-* 



Figun 



9, Florida rtver-pebbli phosphati mining. (From Carroll I). Wright, Thi Phosphate Industry of the United 

 States . . . , plate facing [>;ii>i <■ 1 



eke. Bilious people have too Little sodium sulfate, 

 the melancholies are lacking in potassium sulfate and 

 phosphate: too little calcium phosphate in the phleg- 

 m.itics. Courageous natures have an excess of iron 

 phosphate." (See volume 12 of Nietzsche's Works s 

 edit. Naumann-Kroner, Leipzig, 1886.) In this 

 strange association of inorganic salts with human 



temperaments, the role of iron phosphate asa producer 



of courage is particularly interesting. What would 

 a modern philosopher conclude if he followed the 

 development of insight into the composition and 

 function oi complex phosphate compounds in orga- 

 nisms? 



From Inorganic to Organic Phosphates 



By the middle of the 19th century, the source ol 

 phosphorus in natural phosphates and die chemistry 

 of i t ^ oxidation products had been established. The 

 main difficulty that had to he overcome was that 



these oxidation products existed in so man) li S, 



not only several stages of oxidation, hut. in addition. 

 aggregations and condensations of the phosphoric 



PAPI.R 10: HISTORY Ol- PHOSPHORUS 



acids. Once the fundamental chemistry of these 



acids was elucidated, the attention of chemists and 

 plnsiolonisis tinned ici the task of finding the actual 

 State in which phosphorus compounds were present 

 in the organisms. It had been a great advance when 

 it had been shown that plants need phosphates in 

 their soil. This led to the next question concerning 

 the materials in the body of the plant for which 

 phosphates weie being used .uu\ into which they were 

 incorporated. Similarly, the knowledge that animals 



attain their phosphates from the digested plant food 



called, in the next step of scientific inquiry, lor in- 

 fo] tation on the nature of phosphates produced from 

 this source. 



The method used in this inquiry was to subject 

 anatomic. ill\ separated p.uts ol the organisms to 

 chemical separations. The means for such separations 

 had to be more gende than the strong heat and 

 destructive chemicals that had been considered 

 adequate up to then. The interpretation of the new 

 icsults natuialh relied on the general advam 



1 hemistry, the development ol' new methods for isolat- 

 ing substances ol litde stability, of new- concepts 



187 



