NEW CONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE 



solely explained on grounds of a differing arrange- 

 ment or grouping. 



At a first thought it seems absurd that, for ex- 

 ample, the same number of atoms of carbon, hydro- 

 gen, oxygen, and nitrogen put together in two dif- 

 ferent fashions could make one substance highly 

 nutritious to the bodily economy, the other a deadly 

 poison. It is not easy to understand how mere 

 structure could play such a decisive r61e. 



It is probably a simple question of chemical me- 

 chanics. The most characteristic thing about 

 atoms is their ability to grab hold, so to say, of 

 other atoms; but this ability is unequally shared. 

 Some atoms seem to be one-handed, some two- 

 handed, some three, four, five, or six. The natural 

 propensity of an atom is to get its hands full ; in this 

 condition it is said to be saturated, and it is no 

 longer in a position to create a disturbance. When 

 all the atoms of creation find their atom-grabbing 

 proclivities satisfied, all chemical action, and con- 

 sequently all life, will cease. Saturation is death. 



Roused from their torpor by the sunlight, the 

 inert atoms of the air and the soil take on that con- 

 dition of unstable equilibrium we call life. Under 

 the influence of the bodily ferments the plant mate- 

 rials are raised to a yet higher state of complexity 

 characteristic of the animal world. To the chem- 

 ist's eye the body is a scene of incessant and rapid 



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