304 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



die of starvation. The green plant is the one independent organism on 

 the globe ; all others are in a way parasitic. As you well know, the green 

 plant in sunlight elaborates starch from water and carbon dioxide, and 

 the primitive food thus synthesized becomes the basis for further 

 changes whereby nitrogen and other materials are built into the body 

 of the plant. Thus arise the starches, sugars, oils and proteid materials 

 which constitute the substance of the plant body and which serve us as 

 foods, absolutely essential to the continuance of our lives. 



In my opinion th« time is not far distant when we shall be emanci- 

 pated from this slavery to the green plant. No seriously minded chemist 

 of the present day believes that there is any inherent impossibility in 

 the repetition of the chemical processes of the organism, in the labora- 

 tory. The days of this form of vitalism have long since passed away. 

 The difficulty that confronts the biological chemist in attempting to 

 repeat the chemical processes of the organism is the enormous com- 

 plexity of even the simpler of these operations. Hence he has not yet 

 achieved that kind of success that even the scientific public seems to 

 expect of him. But is this expectation reasonable? Are we warranted 

 in finding him wanting because he has not yet made an amoeba? I 

 think not. To ask him to make an amoeba is like asking an engineer to 

 duplicate New York City. With infinite toil and pains it could be done. 

 But who or what would be the better? One New York is enough. 

 Better study the processes of New York or the amoeba than attempt 

 to duplicate in totality either organism and, having learned what these 

 processes are, apply them to human welfare. This is the attitude we 

 must assume toward the green plant. We must learn its processes and, 

 having learned them, we must apply them to our needs. 



If the green plant in sunlight can elaborate from water and carbon 

 dioxide one of our chief food substances, starch, there is no reason why 

 the biological chemist should not discover the secret of this process and 

 imitate it on a commercial scale. Starch, I believe, has never been 

 synthesized, but some sugars have been so constructed. Two years ago 

 Stoklasa and Sdobnicky made the remarkable discovery that by the 

 action of ultraviolet light on nascent hydrogen and carbon dioxide sugar 

 was formed. Such discoveries as this suggest the means by which we 

 are to throw off our slavery to the green plant and I am convinced that 

 in time this overthrow will become so complete that our staple foods 

 will be the products of the biological chemist. 



From this standpoint the attitude of many of our pure food enthu- 

 siasts seems to me entirely erroneous. Why object to the cheaper sjti- 

 thetic colors and flavors in prepared foods provided they are not poison- 

 ous in themselves and contain no injurious by-products? As a matter 

 of fact these very colors and flavors are often purer than the natural 

 materials. From the point of view of public morals, such mixtures 



