746 The Outline of Science 



showed that one of them at least could arise apart from life alto- 

 gether. And just about the same time (1826-1828), another 

 pioneer, Henry Hennell, was able to build up alcohol from a 

 simpler carbon compound, ethylene. What was regarded as the 

 yeast plant's exclusive prerogative was attained along a different 

 path, without any living organism at all. It is true that neither of 

 these important steps received due attention : Wohler and Hennell 

 were before their time; but they head the illustrious list of 

 synthetic chemists. 



Outdoing Nature 



Indigo, much used in dyeing, and formerly obtained from 

 the indigo plant, is now made artificially, and the same is true of 

 Turkey Red dye, which used to be obtained from the roots of the 

 madder. Vanillin, much used in confectionery, was formerly 

 obtained altogether from the Vanilla plant ; but it is now made in 

 large quantities artificially. Oil of winter-green, used in medicine, 

 was formerly obtained from the plant called Pyrola, whch grows 

 in shady woods ; but it is now made artificially. The sepia which 

 painters used to employ for sombre pictures was obtained from the 

 inkbag of Sepia and other cuttlefishes, a bag of waste-products 

 which these big-brained creatures eject into the water to cloak 

 their retreat from their enemies. But if a modern painter uses 

 sepia, it is an artificially built-up pigment : it does not come from 

 the cuttlefish. So we might continue through a long list; there 

 has been an artificial synthesis of sugar, of caffein, of salicylic 

 acid, and scores of other complex substances. The list grows every 

 year. The chemist outdoes Nature ! 



There are two points of great interest here the first theoreti- 

 cal, the second practical. The interesting theoretical point is that 

 the artificial production of a certain organic compound does not 

 usually correspond to the natural production of the same sub- 

 stance. Thus the artificial production may require great heat, 

 which is out of the question in a plant or an animal. 



