56 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Chemistry has already given proof that it is competent to pro- 

 duce isomeric changes in a considerable number of bodies (as we 

 have seen for hyposulphite of soda) ; and nothing permits us to 

 certify that, after having produced non-living albumen, it will 

 not ultimately find means to determine in it the isomeric change 

 which will make living albumen of it. It is proper to remark, 

 besides, that life itself produces two isomeric states of albumen : 

 one, the active state in protoplasm ; and the other, the passive or 

 inert state in the albumen of the egg, in birds. The latter, which 

 is destined to feed the embryo, may be preserved intact for years, 

 and show itself indifferent to oxygen, which can neither oxidize it 

 nor contribute to its breaking up. It should be remarked, be- 

 sides, that this albumen, deprived of the leavening power, is a 

 product of secretion of the cells of the oviduct — a fact which 

 comes to the support of the thoughts I have expressed above on 

 the mechanism of excretion. 



To create simple living matter the chemist may follow differ- 

 ent ways. He may exactly reproduce the conditions of the me- 

 dium which have favored the appearance of living matter ; or, he 

 may find new conditions that will lead to the same result, by pro- 

 ducing, for example, the isomeric change of which we have just 

 spoken. The same synthesis may, in fact, be produced in differ- 

 ent ways, as has been seen in the case of alcohol. "Will the chem- 

 ist ever realize either of these conditions ? Who can say peremp- 

 torily, No ? The creation of living matter by chemistry is not, 

 therefore, a priori absolutely impossible. 



But, supposing these conditions realized, will the chemist be 

 able to give rise to parcels of living matter which, like the first 

 created at the origin of life on the globe, can become the starting- 

 point for successive generations and for a new evolution in the 

 present conditions of Nature ? It seems to me that the answer to 

 this question must be negative — for the reason that the first cre- 

 ated parcels lived and were propagated through a long series of 

 ages, among the same conditions as prevailed at their birth ; they 

 have since subsisted, notwithstanding the modifications of the 

 medium, because those modifications, slow and taking long spaces 

 of time, have permitted living matter to modify itself slowly and 

 adapt itself to the new conditions. The question, then, amounts 

 to asking, Will the chemist who shall realize, during a sufficient 

 time and within a limited space, the conditions that formerly pre- 

 sided over the formation of living matter, be able to maintain 

 them during sufficient time or to modify them slowly enough for 

 living matter to have to adapt itself and enter into useful and con- 

 servative relations with actual Nature ? If we consider the time 

 Nature has required to reach this result of adaptation, we may 

 logically conclude that such experiences are utterly outside of the 



