188 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



rials by Bertlielot's process, in which a stream of hydrogen is 

 passed through a globe in which the voltaic arc (from 70 or 80 

 cells of a Grove's battery) is produced between carbon points. At 

 this tremendous temperature the carbon unites directly with the 

 hydrogen. Much larger quantities may be formed by the decom- 

 position by the induction spark of carbonic tetrachloride in pres- 

 ence of hydrogen. But the simplest way is by drawing air 

 through the flame of a common glass spirit-lamp, by means of an 

 aspirator. 



Simple as is its formula, almost all the animal and vegetable 

 substances which have been formed by pure synthesis may be 

 obtained from it. In this way may be formed oletiant gas, 

 alcohol, succinic acid, — the last due to the researches of Maxwell 

 Simpson. That the synthesis of succinic acid is a direct step to 

 that of tartaric acid is known from the researches of Perkin and 

 Duppa. The synthesis of the organic alkaloids can also be ef- 

 fected from inorganic materials. 



One of the most interesting cases of synthesis recently accom- 

 plished is that in which Mr. W. H. Perkin succeeded in producing 

 artificially the odoriferous principle of new ha}' and the tonquin 

 bean. Until lately nothing was known about coumarin, except 

 that it was a colorless crystalline body, having the formula 

 Cg He O2. Artificial coumarin was obtained from the hydride of 

 salicyl, having all the fragrance and beauty of that obtained 

 from the tonquin bean. 



From these instances he maintained that there was no natural 

 barrier between organic and inorganic chemistry. Starting from 

 inorganic matter, he had ascended step by step to some of the 

 most complicated bodies secreted by animals and vegetables. 

 What could be more distinctly inorganic than nitrogen, carbon, 

 and oxygen? What more distinctly an animal secretion than 

 urea.f* What more completely inorganic than acetylene .^^ What 

 more distinctly vegetable in origin than coumaiin ? 



Chemists have, then, so far, done what a very few years ago 

 would have been regarded as possible only by aid of the vital 

 force. The bonds which unite organic substances with organized 

 beings *' are so close, that we cannot imagine life ivithout matter, 

 and it is equally difficult to conceive the assumption of vitality by 

 matter; but we must never cease to look anxiously for the solu- 

 tion of the problem. The impossible is a horizon which recedes 

 as we advance, and the terra incognita of to-day will to-morrow 

 be boldly mapped upon every school-boy's chart!" — American 

 Journal of Science, November , 1868. 



REDUCTION OF CARBONIC ACID TO OXALIC ACID. 



Dr. E. Drechsel has achieved a triumph in synthetical chemistry 

 by producing the oxalate of soda by means of carbonic acid. A 

 mixture of pure sodium and dry sand is heated in a flask to 

 about SSO'' C, over which a stream of dry carbonic acid is 

 rapidly passed. After a few hours the metal becomes red and 



