GENERAL SYNTHETIC METHODS. 01 



which enjoys a wide distribution in the vegetable kingdom as a 

 product of deoxidation, is also a constant result of the natural and 

 artificial oxidation of animal tissues. The power, then, of pro- 

 ducing such bodies as benzoic acid and oxalic acid out of more 

 complex bodies such as albumin and sugar, by artificial processes 

 of oxidation, more or less similar to the natural processes taking 

 place in the animal body, has for a long time past been in the 

 acknowledged possession of the chemist. Now, I propose to fur- 

 nish you with illustrations of his inverse power, to which I have 

 so often referred, of producing both animal and vegetable com- 

 pounds by deoxidising, or synthetic, or vegetative processes that 

 is to say, of forming organic compounds without having any 

 recourse to living organisms or reputed vital forces. 



(86.) I will first give you an account of the general processes 

 employed for passing from a more simple to a more complex 

 group, and then of the particular processes by which certain indi- 

 vidual substances have been obtained, interspersing occasional 

 remarks upon the nature and relationship of some of the sub- 

 stances themselves. At starting, let me recall to your recollection 

 the associated series of homologous fatty acids and alcohols, as 

 written up on the table before you : 



Alcohols Acids 



C H 4 Methylic C H a 0, Formic 



C 2 H 6 Ethylic C a H 4 O a Acetic 



C 3 H 8 Propylic C 3 H 6 0, Propionic 



C 4 H I0 Butylic C 4 H 8 0, Butyric 



C 5 H Ia O Amylic C 5 H I0 0, Valeric 



C 6 H I4 Caprylic C 6 H I3 O a Caproic 



C 7 H I6 Anthylic C 7 H, 4 0, (Enanthic 



C 8 H I8 Octylic C 8 H l6 0, Thetic 



Now, by a variety of processes, some new, some old, it is, and 

 for a long time past has been, possible for us to fasten on to one 

 or other of these alcohols an additional atom of carbon, in such a 

 way as to produce the acid corresponding to the alcohol next in 

 the series. Thus, by means of prussic acid CHN, or carbonic an- 

 hydride C0 2 , or phosgene COC1 2 , we can convert methyl-alcohol 



G 



