﻿206 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  they 
  observed, 
  never 
  grew 
  old 
  or 
  died, 
  but 
  a 
  tree 
  was 
  obviously 
  a 
  

   living 
  thing, 
  almost 
  one 
  of 
  us, 
  growing, 
  reproducing 
  its 
  kind, 
  and 
  

   eventually 
  dying. 
  And 
  as 
  the 
  ancients 
  had 
  difficulty 
  in 
  forming 
  an 
  

   idea 
  of 
  life 
  without 
  an 
  animating 
  personality 
  there 
  arose 
  naturally 
  

   the 
  concept 
  of 
  the 
  inseparable 
  tree 
  nymph. 
  

  

  Human 
  thinking 
  from 
  the 
  first 
  has 
  been 
  frankly 
  anthropomorphic. 
  

   Only 
  in 
  modern 
  times 
  has 
  there 
  been 
  any 
  notable 
  effort 
  to 
  cast 
  out 
  

   anthropomorphism 
  from 
  our 
  philosophy, 
  and 
  this 
  struggle 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  

   resulted 
  in 
  victory. 
  Even 
  we 
  of 
  to-day, 
  with 
  hereditary 
  habits 
  of 
  

   thought 
  heavy 
  upon 
  us, 
  find 
  the 
  concept 
  of 
  impersonal, 
  physical 
  causes 
  

   drab 
  and 
  unsatisfying, 
  and 
  we 
  spell 
  Nature 
  with 
  a 
  capital 
  N. 
  The 
  

   dryad 
  lingers. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  chemistry 
  of 
  other 
  days 
  we 
  find 
  an 
  interesting 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  

   persistence 
  of 
  this 
  mode 
  of 
  thought. 
  The 
  old 
  alchemists 
  knew 
  that 
  

   wine 
  by 
  boiling 
  lost 
  its 
  intoxicating 
  power. 
  Because 
  they 
  could 
  see 
  

   nothing 
  escaping 
  they 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  "spirit 
  of 
  wine" 
  had 
  found 
  its 
  

   abode 
  too 
  hot 
  for 
  it, 
  and 
  had 
  taken 
  its 
  departure. 
  Cassio 
  used 
  no 
  

   figure 
  of 
  speech 
  when 
  he 
  apostrophized 
  the 
  "invisible 
  spirit 
  of 
  wine" 
  

   by 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  been 
  so 
  disastrously 
  possessed 
  of 
  the 
  devil, 
  and 
  the 
  

   name 
  "spirit" 
  as 
  applied 
  to 
  alcohol 
  is 
  still 
  in 
  common 
  use. 
  

  

  With 
  the 
  advance 
  of 
  knowledge 
  it 
  was 
  found 
  that 
  many 
  other 
  

   phenomena 
  beside 
  intoxication 
  owed 
  their 
  causes, 
  not 
  to 
  spirits 
  or 
  

   devils, 
  but 
  to 
  inanimate, 
  prosaic 
  chemical 
  compounds. 
  So 
  strong, 
  

   however, 
  is 
  heredity 
  that 
  the 
  dryad, 
  instead 
  of 
  disappearing 
  from 
  

   human 
  thinldng, 
  merely 
  changed 
  her 
  form 
  and 
  retreated 
  under 
  fire 
  to 
  

   a 
  position 
  of 
  advantage 
  across 
  a 
  natural 
  barrier, 
  where 
  she 
  long 
  

   remained 
  in 
  safety. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  many 
  years 
  before 
  this 
  barrier 
  was 
  crossed. 
  The 
  dividing 
  line 
  

   between 
  organic 
  and 
  inorganic 
  substances 
  was 
  a 
  sharp 
  one 
  in 
  the 
  

   eighteenth 
  century, 
  and 
  from 
  her 
  safe 
  refuge 
  in 
  the 
  domain 
  of 
  organic 
  

   chemistry 
  the 
  dryad 
  long 
  watched 
  her 
  baffled 
  foes. 
  The 
  older 
  chem- 
  

   ists 
  divided 
  the 
  province 
  of 
  their 
  science 
  in 
  two 
  by 
  a 
  water-tight 
  parti- 
  

   tion. 
  All 
  compounds 
  with 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  acquainted 
  could 
  be 
  

   analyzed 
  or 
  broken 
  down 
  into 
  their 
  elements, 
  but 
  not 
  all 
  of 
  them 
  could 
  

   be 
  built 
  up 
  again 
  by 
  human 
  skill. 
  Water 
  might 
  be 
  formed 
  from 
  its 
  

   constituents, 
  but 
  not 
  sugar 
  or 
  starch; 
  yet 
  these 
  latter 
  substances 
  were 
  

   daily 
  synthesized 
  in 
  the 
  laboratory 
  of 
  Nature, 
  in 
  the 
  tissues 
  of 
  animal 
  

   or 
  vegetable 
  matter; 
  and 
  because 
  they 
  were 
  never 
  known 
  to 
  occur 
  

   in 
  mineral 
  or 
  inorganic 
  matter, 
  substances 
  of 
  this 
  type 
  were 
  called 
  

   from 
  their 
  origin, 
  organic 
  compounds. 
  

  

  Years 
  of 
  experience 
  had 
  given 
  rise 
  to 
  the 
  belief 
  that 
  there 
  existed 
  

   between 
  these 
  two 
  classes 
  of 
  bodies 
  a 
  difference 
  in 
  kind 
  rather 
  than 
  

   in 
  degree, 
  and 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  some 
  reason 
  not 
  understood 
  why 
  organic 
  

   compounds 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  synthesized 
  artifically. 
  This 
  unknown 
  reason 
  

   was 
  given 
  a 
  name; 
  it 
  was 
  called 
  the 
  "vital 
  force." 
  

  

  