The Romance of Chemistry 729 



most other elements." Carbon is unique in its capacity for form- 

 ing compounds, of which more than a hundred thousand are 

 known, and its combination with oxygen (COa) affords the source 

 from which most of the free oxygen of the air is derived. 



The Remarkable Power of Carbon 



The Chemistry of Carbon is of a peculiarly interesting 

 nature ; because of its remarkable power of uniting with itself as 

 well as with other elements it is enabled "to build up single mole- 

 cules containing very large numbers of atoms, and such molecules 

 form the basis for framing the structure of living organisms. 

 Without these two properties of the carbon atom, life, at least as 

 it is known upon the earth, would be impossible." It is this ele- 

 ment, in combination with a few other elements, for instance, 

 hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which gives rise to a multitude 

 of compounds of every degree of complexity, and out of which 

 many substances are produced which are essential in building up 

 the bodies of animals and plants. 



As we have seen, living products are chiefly based on four 

 elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen. From these four 

 elements, with admixtures, most substances of the living world 

 are made up. 



It is a curious fact that all life on the earth should depend on 

 two single factors, ( 1 ) the presence of a mere trace, lying at 

 the level of only between three and four parts per 10,000 

 of this gas (carbon-dioxide) in the air, and (2) the natural 

 power of the carbon atom contained in the carbon-dioxide, of 

 entering into energy relationships with fellow carbon atoms. 

 Given these conditions, a suitable form of energy and a 

 suitable transformer for that energy, capable of turning it 

 into chemical energy of carbon compounds, and it follows 

 that all the complex constituents which form the basis of life 

 not only can, but must arise. 1 



1 Benjamin Moore, Origin and Nature of Life. 



