446 



NATURE 



ISept. 8, 1887 



R suits of fermentation, but very little hitherto to the modus 

 opei-aiidi of the ferments themselves, and yet this seems to me to 

 offer a wide field for interesting research, especially in the case 

 of those of the soluble class, which are easily prepared, and can 

 be manipulated in the laboratory like any chemical substance 

 without the tedious precautions and preliminary operations 

 necessary in the case of the organized ferments. In what way, 

 it may be asked, do these soluble ferments produce the effects 

 peculiar to them? Is the action essentially chemical, or is it due 

 to physical causes as well ? Is the quantity of fermentable matter 

 acted on by a certain quantity of ferment unlimited in amount, 

 or are there limits to that amount somewhere ? Does the ferment 

 itself undergo any change during the process of fermentation, 

 or is it the same afterwards as before and capable of acting on 

 fresh quantities of fermentable matter? When a ferment is 

 replaced by a strong mineral acid, the products of decomposition 

 being the same, is the modus operandi in both cases alike, or 

 must a different explanation be in each case sought ? These 

 questions have never been satisfactorily answered, and await 

 solution. I know of only one attempt to show what actually 

 takes place during a process of fermentation set up by a i^oluble 

 ferment. 



The experiments of Wurtz {Comptes Kendus, xci. 787), on 

 papain, the soluble ferment of Carica Papaya, led to the con- 

 clusion that the fibrin on which it is made to act combines in the 

 first instance with the ferment itself, the latter after the hydration 

 of the fibrin is completed being again set at liberty, and then 

 able to act on fresh quantities of fibrin. Thus, according to 

 Wurtz, the action is found to be the same as that of chemical 

 agents, properly so called, such as sulphuric acid, of which 

 minute quantities may exert a hydrating action in consequence 

 of the transitory formation of compounds which are constantly 

 being produced and again decomposed. 



There is another question referring to these soluble ferments 

 to which in the present state of our knowledge it is impossible 

 to frame a probable answer, viz. why does it so frequently 

 happen that each ferment exerts a specific action, an action 

 peculiar to itself, this being in fact, in the absence of any marked 

 chemical characters, the only means by which they can be distin- 

 guished one from the other ? Why does one ferment act on starch 

 only, while the function of another consists in the hydration of 

 fibrin, that of another in the decomposition of a glucoside, and 

 so on? In accordance with the explanation of W^urtz, we should 

 say that a specific ferment is one capable of combining only 

 with the body on which it is to act, and with no other. I was 

 led to ask this question when engaged in the examination of the 

 colouring matters of Rnbia tinctontm. The root of this plant, 

 the madder of commerce, contains glucosides, which, though 

 coloured, are quite devoid of tinctorial power. Nature has at 

 the same time placed in the root a peculiar ferment, which, 

 coming into contact with these glucosides at a certain tempera- 

 ture, effects their decomposition, splitting them up into glucose 

 and true colouring matters. Now this ferment is a body stii 

 generis, and cannot be replaced by any other ferment that I have 

 tried ; its action is specific. W^hy Nature should have deposited 

 this body in the recesses of the plant for the express purpose of 

 acting on certain glucosides and forming colouring matters, the 

 object of which, so far as the economy of the plant is concerned, 

 can only be guessed at, is difficult to understand. One is inclined 

 in such a case to revert to the old-fashioned doctrine that some 

 natural processes were devised for the use and delectation of man. 

 It is quite certain in the case of madder that had it not been for 

 its peculiar ferment erythrozym, the valuable tinctorial proper- 

 ties of the root, which have for centuries been applied in the 

 production of that splendid dye Turkey red, would have 

 remained unknown perhaps to the present day, since the only 

 efficient substitute for the natural ferment is a strong mineral 

 acid, and such acids and their uses were unknown in former days. 



I am inclined to think that some of the younger chemists and 

 physiologists of to-day may live to see the time when all the 

 at present mysterious and unaccountable processes going on in 

 the organisms of plants and animals, including those of fermenta- 

 tion, will be found to obey purely physical and chemical laws. 

 To the biologist it may seem derogatory to the dignity of his 

 science to have the principle of vitality, which has so long 

 reigned supreme, dethroned and replaced by hard, unbending 

 law. Such, however, is not the opinion of that distinguished 

 botanist Sachs, who says, referring to this very point: — " Der 

 Organismus selbst ist nur die aus verschiedenen Theilen beste- 

 hende Maschine, die durch weitere Eingriffe ausserer Krafte in 



Bewegung gesetzt werden muss : von ihrer Struktur hangt es ab,. 

 welchen Effekt diese ausseren Krafte an ihr bewirken. Es 

 wurde einen sehr niedrigen Horizont wissenschaftlicher Bildung 

 verrathen, in diesem Vergleich eine Herab.setzung des Organis- 

 mus sehen zu wollen, denn in einer Maschine, wenn auch nur von 

 Menschenhiinden gemacht, liegt das Resultat tiefsten und 

 sorgfaltigsten Nachdenkens und hoher Intelligenz, soweit es 

 ihre. Struktur betrifft, und wirksam sind in ihr schliesslich 

 dieselben Naturkrafte, welche in anderer Combination die 

 Lebenskrafte eines Organs darstellen. Die Vergleichung des 

 organischen Lebens mit unorganischen Processen kann nur dann 

 als eine Erniedrigung des ersteren gelten, wenn man so thoricht 

 gewesen ist, die letzteren als etwas Niedriges und Gemeines 

 aufzufassen, wahrend die. unbegreifliche Grosse und Durchgeisti- 

 gung der Natur in beiden Fallen sich gleichartig offenbart " 

 ( Vorlcsiingen iiber Pflanzenphysiologie). The time may be far 

 distant when these views of the great botanist shall be universally 

 accepted ; but they will, I think, sooner or later prevail. 



The little known territory which separates the domains of 

 chemistry and physiology will, in my opinion, offer a wide and 

 interesting field for research, after that of pure chemistry shall 

 have been exhausted or lost its interest. Most important prob- 

 lems connected with life and its relation to the inorganic world 

 there await solution, and I confess that I am inclined to envy the 

 young investigator who, coming provided with an ample store of 

 chemical and physical knowledge, shall apply himself to the 

 solution of these problems. The pleasures derived frjm the suc- 

 cessful pursuit of such studies belong to the highest and purest 

 that we are able to conceive. I can, however, only repe it what 

 has so often been said before, and what the young man of science 

 should not forget, that a life devoted to research only involves 

 no material rewards ; it certainly never secures wealth, some- 

 times not even honour nor fame. Looked on with indifference 

 or even dislike by the State, the Church, and the public at large, 

 all that the man of science can certainly look forward to at the 

 close of his career is the addition at his hands of a few stones to 

 the vast edifice of truth, and the consciousness of having 

 attained a higher stage of intellectual insight. 



You may probably expect me, before I conclude, to make 

 some reference to technological matters, to the various chemical 

 arts and manufactures for which the Manchester district is noted. 

 At the last meeting of the British Association in Manchester a 

 report on the condition at that time of manufacturing chemistry 

 in the South Lancashire district, by Sir Henry Roscoe, the late 

 Dr. Angus Smith, and myself, was laid before the Chemical 

 Section. A similar report showing the progress made in chemical 

 technology since that time would have been interesting. Great 

 changes have taken place during the period that has elapsed, 

 especially as regards the alkali trade, and quite a new branch of 

 industry has been developed, that of the coal-tar colours. A 

 description of these new features of our chemical industry with 

 statistics of production would theref ire have been acceptable. 

 The idea of a report had however to be given up on account of 

 the difficulty of obtaining reliable information as to details, and 

 in these matters it is the details only which are interesting, the 

 general features of the subject being well known. It can hardly 

 be a matter for surprise, I think, that our manufacturers, con- 

 sidering the active competition to which they are exposed, and 

 the disadvantages under which they labour in consequence of 

 the exclusiveness of foreign nations, should be loth to furnish 

 information which would benefit their rivals in trade. Several 

 interesting papers on branches of chemical industry by gentlemen 

 well versed in them will, however, be read before the Section, 

 and these will, to a great extent, make up for the want of a j 

 general report. In the Chemical Section of our Jubilee Exhibi- 

 tion, too, you will see a very fine collection of chemical products, 

 more extensive and beautiful, perhaps, than any previously! 

 brought together, and these will give you a good idea of our 

 industrial activity. It would have been interesting to witness] 

 step by step some of the processes employed in the manufacture! 

 of these various products, but this, I am sorry to say, must not! 

 be expected generally. J 



To some it may seem that this Jubilee Exhibition shows the! 

 manufacturing industry and prosperity of this district at least at j 

 their highest state of development ; that they are now at theirj 

 meridian, and in the future are doomed to decline. If this bej 

 so— and there are certainly indications which seem to favour thisj 

 view— it would be well for those whose visits here are onlyj 

 occasional to take especial note of the present state of things sol 

 as to be able to compare their impressions when they next visitl 



