CHEMISTRY 237 



Thus it is evident that the process possesses 

 another advantage. In the course of such 

 rearrangements no energy is lost. This con- 

 clusion is thoroughly confirmed by the studies 

 of the energy transformations of metabolism. 

 The body may carry on such processes as it 

 will, in the greatest variety and complexity, 

 rearranging and modifying its chemical struc- 

 tures to any extent, and there will never be 

 an appreciable wastage of precious material 

 or of equally precious energy in the process. 



This process, as we have seen, is the char- 

 acteristic reaction between water and the 

 organic compounds. As such it is necessarily 

 one of our chief concerns ; its maximal fitness 

 as a means of regulation, and otherwise, there- 

 fore assumes real importance in the present 

 discussion. 



II 



INORGANIC CHEMISTRY 



With the survey of organic chemistry we 

 have exhausted the compounds of carbon; 



mie"). These data are the most accurate now in existence 

 which permit an estimate of the heat of hydrolysis of non- 

 nitrogenous compounds. Numerous studies of protein deriv- 

 atives from Fischer's laboratory prove that the facts are 

 the same for these substances, and direct measurements 

 confirm the measurements of heats of combustion. 



