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77? e Second Approach 

 LIFE, CARBON'S OUTSTANDING PROPERTY 



1. THE RISE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY, THE KEY TO THE 



MYSTERIES OF LIFE 



As we glance over the various relationships and similari- 

 ties between living growth and the growth of crystals it may 

 appear that there is no distinction between life and lifeless 

 matter at all. Such an assumption is hardly justified. One 

 definite difference is that the material from which living 

 things are built up is of a constantly shifting composition. 

 By some means the surrounding lifeless matter, or the food 

 taken in is transformed into the material of which the living- 

 plant or animal consists. As is well known, it is the science 

 of chemistry which is concerned with the study of material 

 changes. Thus chemistry holds the key to the secrets of 

 life. The development of scientific chemistry which began 

 a century ago has indeed enabled us to understand some of 

 the most essential secrets of vital processes. Here are some 

 of the outstanding events in this development. 



The curtain rises on a scene in an old German schoolhouse 

 at Darmstadt, in the year 1819. The school year nears its 

 end. The schoolmaster has decided to spend the rest of the 

 hour in asking his pupils about their prospective vocations. 

 Most of them select such time-honored and dignified pro- 

 fessions as law and medicine. The quiz ends when the 

 poorest pupil is asked: "Now, Justus Liebig, what do you 

 wish to be?" "A chemist, sir," is his prompt reply. The 

 teacher bursts into loud laughter: "What did you say? A 

 chemist? A worthy occupation for such a fool as you! 

 Meddling with the mud, trying to make gold from it." As 

 the class joins in the teacher's laughter, the period ends. 



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