v] of Chemical Physiology. 133 



On the other hand by what he called water, he meant 

 everything which is not air; he insists that all things, plants 

 and animals, can be reduced to water, that they are in fact 

 water endued with certain properties. 



" That all vegetables and flesh consist of water alone I can 

 "prove by experiment. Everything indeed if not directly, at 

 " least with the help of an adjunct, can be made to assume 

 " again the nature of water. All stones, rocks and mud, either 

 " of themselves, or with assistance, change into alkaline salt (sal 

 "alkali); and all sal alkali, fat being added, is reduced to- a 

 "watery liquor which at length becomes plain and simple 

 " water." 



Here is an example of the quantitative method by which he 

 carried out his investigations : 



" That all vegetables are produced immediately and materially 

 " out of the single element of water I learnt by experiment. I 

 " took an earthen vessel in which I placed 200 lbs. of earth dried 

 " in an oven. I then watered it with rain water and planted in 

 "it a young willow weighing 16 lbs. After the expiration of 

 "five years this willow weighed 169 lbs. and some ounces. 



"The earthen vessel which was always, when necessary, 

 "moistened with rain or with distilled water, was large, and 

 " was sunk in the ground ; and lest any dust carried by the air 

 " should be mingled with the earth, an iron lid coated with tin 

 " closed the mouth of the vessel. I did not measure the weight 

 " of the leaves which were shed in the four successive autumns. 

 "At the end, I dried the earth in the vessel, and found its 

 " weight to be 200 lbs. less some two ounces. 



"The 164 lbs. or so, of wood, bark, and roots (by which the 

 " older tree differed in weight from the young one) were there- 

 " fore derived from water alone." 



Is not this a good experiment, one such as an experimental 

 agricultural station of to-day need not be ashamed of? It is 

 only the conclusion that is wrong. Would not van Helmont be 

 now delighted to hear that it was not water but gas, carbon 

 dioxide, which in the main accounted for the increase in weight? 



He goes on to expound how out of many things can be 

 obtained, in various ways, a something which is like air, but is 



