The Evolution of the Sciences 



When we consider that five hundred com- 

 binations are actually known of two bodies 

 alone, carbon and rrydrogen, when we think 

 of the millions of compound bodies which we 

 are to-day able to produce with seventy-two 

 elements, we are compelled to admit that 

 the inventory drawn up by classical chemistry, 

 was no useless or idle task, because it has left 

 us not only an arid nomenclature, but a deeper 

 knowledge of the properties of matter and of the 

 general conditions of molecular association. 



From the beginnings of chemistry as a science 

 a fundamental distinction was made between 

 the products of mineral matter and the products 

 of life, elaborated by animals and plants. This 

 separation between organic chemistry and 

 inorganic chemistry increased with the progress 

 of the science to such a degree that chemists 

 were forced to the conviction that it rested 

 on the very nature of things. These two 

 branches of a single trunk grew steadily wider 

 apart, developing in different degrees, one 

 branching out with rapid and faultless order, 

 while the branches of the other remained ir- 



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