Ill 



ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. 



OKOANIC RADICALS. 



Ill 



of alcohols and tlieir derivatives, from amylic alcohol downward*. 

 Phenylic alcohol and naphthaline, both artificially prodm-ed by lk-r- 

 thelut, yield a hot of interesting bodiea ; whilst phenylcarbo' 

 enable* us to step from the phenylic to the salicylic group, finer, wln-n 

 treated with hyponitrous acid, it yields salicylic acid. Lastly, M. Ber- 

 thelot baa succeeded in artificially forming glycerin, the basis of animal 

 and vegetable oil* and fata. Grape sugar has also been a Ur.l to the 

 lUt; but, being produced by the contact of plyeerin with putrifyinR 

 animal matter, it cannot be said to be formed altogether witlinut the 

 agency of vitality, although the putrifying organic matter contributes 

 none of iu constituent* to the new compound, and does not undergo 

 any appreciable change in weight or appearance during the process. 

 These substances yield such a numerous clan* of derivatives, that up- 

 wards of 700 distinct organic compounds can now be produced from 

 their clement* without the agency of vitality. 



Amongst the most important organic compounds thus formed, the 

 following may bo mentioned : 



Name. 



Oxalic acid 



Hydrocyanic acid .... 

 Light carboretted hydrogen . 



Urea 



Formic add (acid of anu) 



Chloroform 



Acetic acid 



Alcohol 



Ether 



defiant gut 



Acetic ether 



OHofgiirlio 



Oil of mustard .... 



Glycerin 



Butyric acid 



Pine-apple flavour (butyric cttcr) 



Buccinic acid 



Yalerianic acid 



Fear flavour (acetate of amyl) . 



Apple flavour (valcrianatc of amyl) . 



Lactic acid 



Grape sugar ! 



Caprolc acid . , , . . 

 Benzole ...... 



Nitrobeniole 



Aniline 



Fhenyl alcohol (crcasote) 



Picric acid 



Salicylic acid 



Salicylatc of methyl (oil of wintergreen) 

 Xaphthalin 



Formula. 

 . (0,0,. HO), 

 . C 5 N, H 

 .C 2 H. 

 . C.N.H.O, 

 . C,HO,, IIO 

 . C.HC1, 



. c,n,o s , no 

 . c 4 n s o, no 

 . (c,n s o), 



C.H. 



. C,H,0. C 4 H S 0, 

 . (C 4 H S 8), 

 . C,H,8, C,NS 



C.H.O. 



. C,H,OJ, no 



. C,H,0,, C t H,0 

 . C,n 4 O,, 2HO 



C IO H,0 S ,C 10 1I U 

 C.,11,,0,, 



Cuii.jOj, no 



C,,H. 



C,,H,N0 4 



N(C,,H 5 )II, 



c,,n,o, no 

 . CuHjfNojjO, no 



C I4 H,O,, HO 



C l4 n 5 0,.C,H,0 



C..H. 



The artificial formation of urea, lactic acid, and caproic acid, is 

 interesting in connection with certain functions of the animal economy. 

 Pine-apple oil and apple oil are instances of the artificial production of 

 the delicate flavours of fruit, whilst oil of wintergreen and nitrobenzole 

 are like examples of the formation of esteemed perfumes. But of all 

 the bodies hitherto thus produced, alcohol, glycerin, and sugar are 

 undoubtedly the most deeply interesting, owing to the port they take 

 in the nutrition of animals : they prove to us the possibility of pro- 

 ducing, without vegetation or any vital intervention, an important part 

 of the food of man. Should the chemist also succeed in forming arti- 

 ficially the nitrogenous constituent* of food, without which life cannot 

 be maintained, it would then be possible for a man planted upon a 

 barren rock, and furnished with the necessary apparatus and inorganic 

 material*, to support life without either animal or vegetable food. No 

 one of these nitrogenous constituents has, however, yet been artificially 

 produced, and the absence of all clue to their rational constitution 

 form* at present a formidable barrier to their non-vital production. 



Consideration* here naturally suggest themselves regarding the possi- 

 bility of economically replacing natural processes by artificial ones in 

 the formation of organic coiujiounds. At present the possibility of 

 doing this only attains to probability in the cose of rare and exceptional 

 product* of annual and vegetable life. Thus, valerianic acid, which for 

 a long time was extracted from the root of the \'aieriana ii/idnalii, 

 could now probably be more cheaply prepared from it* element* ; but 

 a still cheaper source of this acid has been in the meantime discovered, 

 namely, the oxidation of omylic alcohol, a waste product formed in the 

 manufacture of spirit of wine, and obtainable at such a moderate cost 

 as to prevent, in an economical point of view, the successful production 

 either of amylic alcohol or valerianic acid by any artificial and exclu- 

 sively non-vital processes at present known. It is also highly probable 

 that if we could produce artificially such bodies as quinine and the 

 rare alkaloids, or alizarin, and similar powerful and valuable organic 



(louring matters, we should be able to compete with organic life iu 

 the formation of these bodies ; nevertheless, the discovery of the pro- 

 cesses of artificial formation would doubtless be preceded by a know- 

 ledge of methods by which such rare bodiea could be produced from 

 more abundant and consequently cheaper forms of vegetable or animal 

 ami it is therefore exceedingly improbable that any purely 

 non-vital process will be successfully and at the same time economically 

 employed for the manufacture even of mich rare and valuable vital 

 product*. Such being the economical bearings of the case with regard 

 to the rare and exceptional educts of vitality, when we turn to consider 

 the great staple product* of the animal and vegetable kingdoms the 

 hope of rivalling natural processes become* faint indeed. < By no process 

 at present known could we produce sugar, glycerin, or alcohol from 

 tlieir element* at one hundred times their present cost as obtained 

 through the agency of vitality. But, although our present prospects 

 of rivalling vital processes in the economical production of staple 

 organic compound* such as those constituting the food of man are so 

 exceedingly slight, yet it would be rash to pronounce their ultimate 

 realisation impossible. It must be remembered that this branch of 

 chemistry is as yet in its merest infancy, and that it has hitherto 

 attracted the attention of few minds ; and further, that many analogous 

 substitutions of artificial for natural processes have been achieved. 

 Thus, under certain circumstances, we find it less economical to propel 

 our ships by the force of the wind, and our carriages by animal power, 

 than to employ steam power for these purposes. We do not find it 

 desirable to wait for the bleaching of our calicoes by the sun's rays ; 

 and even the grinding of corn is no longer entirely confided to wind 

 and water power. 



In such case*, where contemporaneous natural agencies have been 

 superseded, we have almost invariably drawn upon that grand store of 

 force collected by the plants of bygone ages, and conserved in our coal- 

 fields. It is the solar heat of a post epoch that evolve* mechanical 

 power from our steam-engines, enabling us to accomplish that which 

 the present forces of nature alone are not capable of performing. One 

 important element in cheap production is time, and it is precisely in 

 regard to this element that we economically supersede in the above 

 instances the contemporary resources of nature. Now time is also an 

 important element in the natural production of food, and although it 

 is true that the amount of labour required for the growth of a given 

 weight of food is not considerable, yet it is nevertheless true that this 

 weight requires a whole year for its production. By the vital process 

 of producing food we con only have one harvest in each year. But if 

 we were able to manufacture that food from its element* without vital 

 agency, there would be nothing to prevent us from obtaining a harvest 

 every week ; and thus we might, in the production of food, supersede 

 the present vital agencies of nature, as we have already done in other 

 cases, by laying under contribution the accumulated forces of past ages, 

 which would thus enable us to obtain in a small manufactory, and in a 

 few days, effects which can only be otherwise realised from present 

 natural agencies when exerted upon vast area* of land, and through 

 considerable periods of time. 



ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, CLASSIFICATION OF. [ORGANIC 



ClIKMISTBY.] 



ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, CONSTITUTION OF. [ORGANIC 

 CHEMISTRY.] 



ORGANIC RADICALS. The large number of simple atoms which 

 generally go to form an organic substance are not bound together 

 into one homogeneous compound, but are to a great extent arranged in 

 groups, each group playing the part of a simple or elementary body. 

 Such groups performing this function are termed organic or compound 

 ra<licat. Thus, alcohol con tains 4 equivalents of carbon, 6 of hydrogen, 

 and 2 of oxygen, but these elements are supposed to be arranged iu the 

 alcohol in the following manner : 



That is, 4 equivalents of carbon and 5 of hydrogen exist in the alcohol 

 in the form of a compound as distinct and independent as the remaining 

 equivalent of hydrogen ; this compound of carbon and hydrogen, which, 

 is called ethyl, is an example of on organic radical, or of an organic 

 group playing the part of an elementary body : for by certain chemical 

 operations, the radical ethyl can be removed from alcohol and its place 

 supplied by hydrogen, a kind of substitution which transforms the 

 alcohol into water. Thus alcohol and water are related to each other, 

 as shown in the following formula; : 



Alcohol. 



Water. 



The simple or elementary radicals comprise, on the one hand, bodies 

 which, like potassium, zinc, iron, and hydrogen, ore electro-positive or 

 basylous in their character; and, on the other, substances such as 

 oxygen, sulphur, and chlorine, which am electro-negative or chlorous 

 in their behaviour. The organic radicals admit of a precisely similar 

 classification : some of them, such as methyl, ethyl, phenyl, &c., 

 imitating hydrogen, zinc, or iron in their functions ; whilst formyl, 

 othyl, cyanogen, &c., resemble chlorine aud sulphur in their chemical 



