174 THE ANATOMY OF SCIENCE 



only a hundred atoms would have so many pos- 

 sible arrangements that merely to give the for- 

 mulae alone would require more books than are 

 contained in all the libraries of the world ! 



Many of the molecules produced in living 

 cells contain thousands of atoms, and here we 

 have an interesting case of a set of things which 

 we know to be a discontinuum aping the man- 

 ners of a continuum; for, as we pass from the 

 simple to the complex structures, the difference 

 between each substance and its nearest neighbor 

 grows smaller; and the substitution of atoms 

 and groups for one another, although each is a 

 distinct act, makes such slight and apparently 

 gradual changes in properties that the skilled 

 organic chemist can mold and remold to his 

 desire, as though he were working in a plastic 

 continuum. 



So, as the organic chemist acquires profi- 

 ciency in this art, for indeed it is almost an art, 

 he acquires an intimate acquaintance with his 

 material. This leads him to a few great generali- 

 zations, to a large number of working rules of 

 limited or sporadic applicability, and to many 

 vague guesses or little tricks of thought, which 

 he cannot or will not impart to others. In fact, 

 much of his knowledge does not fully emerge 



