LIFE, CARBON'S OUTSTANDING PROPERTY 81 



10. THE ORIGIN OF LIFE ON THE EARTH 



The modes and circumstances through which the first 

 forms of life arose on the earth can be fully understood 

 only when we have learned to make one of those self-pro- 

 ducing enzymes by artificial means. We can guess, how- 

 ever, that such an enzyme might have arisen early in the 

 history of the earth, possibly through the help of electric 

 discharges. Experiments have shown that by the passage 

 of electric discharges through gases which contain carbon, 

 a wide variety of solid carbon compounds is formed. Al- 

 most any compound of organic chemistry may be formed 

 in this way. The electric spark somehow shakes up the 

 carbon atoms and puts them together again. It is likely, 

 therefore, that spark discharges in nature may have led to 

 the production of a countless multitude of different organic 

 substances. 



The earth's surface was once much hotter than it is today. 

 Lightnings were probably of frequent occurrence. More 

 carbon containing gases were contained in the atmosphere 

 than today; the hotter climate favored chemical changes. 

 Thus a considerable amount of organic material was formed. 

 As the earth gradually cooled, water vapor condensed and 

 the first oceans were formed. Much of the organic mate- 

 rial formed by lightnings was soluble in water and was 

 gradually washed into the oceans. More and more of it 

 piled up as more was formed. Thus we are led to believe 

 that at one time, a billion or more years ago, the ocean 

 contained a considerable quantity of diversified organic 

 substances though nothing resembling life was present. 



Among the countless substances formed by the lightnings, 

 enzymes appeared and still later self-regenerating enzymes. 

 Some of these were also washed into the ocean where inert 

 organic material w r as already piled up. Eventually en- 

 zymatic chemical reactions started in the sea. 



Were these reactions the beginning of life? This question 



