PROCEEDINGS OF THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 379 



between very narrow limits of temperature and so far as we 

 know with the use of comparatively simple substances. Appar- 

 ently not one of the large number of compounds synthesized in 

 the laboratory has been prepared under the exact conditions that 

 obtain in the living organism and its environment. Nevertheless, 

 it must not be inferred that no progress has been made. The 

 theory of Bseyer advanced in 1870, to the effect that the first 

 step in the synthesis of starch and sugars found in the vegetable 

 world consists in the interaction of water and carbon dioxide to 

 form formaldehyde which then polymerizes into a sugar, has re- 

 ceived some confirmation in the discovery that traces of formal- 

 dehyde actually exist in some plants while other plants are 

 apparently able to assimilate it with the resulting formation of 

 carbohydrates. ^loreover the synthesis of a sugar from carbon 

 dioxide and water has actually been accomplished in the labora- 

 tory under conditions of temperature that obtain in nature al- 

 though the first step is accomplished through the action of a 

 catalytic agent that does not exist in nature in the form in which 

 it is employed. It is certain that before much progress can be 

 made some insight must be gained into a number of fundamental 

 reactions, such as the action of catalytic agents. W'e know but 

 little of the composition and structure of that class of bodies 

 known as enzymes which play such an important part in so many 

 of the reactions of the living organism. 



A great deal of work has been done especially by Ciamician 

 and Paterno on the influence of light in effecting chemical changes 

 and some enthusiasts even claim that the great chemical labora- 

 tory of the future will be in the Desert of Sahara or in other 

 lands where sun-light may be had for the asking. Considerable 

 advancehas also been made by Willstater in our knowledge con- 

 cerning the composition of chlorophyll and of other colored com- 

 pounds existing in plants. 



But the most brilliant worker in this field of synthetic chem- 

 istry is Emil Fischer, Professor of Chemistry in the University 

 of Berlin. In his researches on the sugars he was able not only 

 to determine the structure of many of these compounds but to 

 eft'ect their syntheses and in other ways to greatly extend our 



