150 The Evolution of Chemistry. 



general statement of present tendencies and results in chemical inves- 

 tigation, it leaves nothing to be desired. I can only call attention to 

 the remarkable character of recent laboratory discoveries, which seem 

 to indicate that in time all our food products may be produced directly, 

 by chemical combinations, from the inorganic world, instead of com- 

 pelling us to rely, as at present, on vegetable and animal products for 

 the sustenance of life. There has also been great progress of late in 

 the field of biology. The old notion of a vital force has given way 

 before the results of scientific investigation. That which was formerly 

 known as vital force and supposed to indicate a direct, creative action 

 in the production of organic life is now known to be merely the result 

 of chemical change. 



DR. ECCLES replied briefly, saying that vital force is no longer be- 

 lieved in by chemists. The field of chemistry is so vast that no one 

 mind can grasp it all, and it is impossible to describe its conquests in 

 a single lecture. 



