Scientific Sophisms. 123 



made to represent the composition of proto- 

 plasm ; much less can it be effected in practice. 

 Carbonic acid (CO 2 ), water (H 2 O), and ammonia 

 (NH 3 ), cannot by any combination be brought 

 to represent C, 6 H 26 N 4 O 10 , which is the equiva- 

 lent of protein or protoplasm. 



3. " But the most incredible of all the errors, 

 if it be not simply a mystification, is found in 

 the comparison between the formation of water 

 from its elements and the origination of proto- 

 plasm. Hydrogen and oxygen doubtless unite 

 to form an equivalent weight of water ; that 

 is, an amount of water equalling in weight the 

 combined weights of the hydrogen and the 

 oxygen ; and Professor Huxley asks, ' Is the 

 case in any way changed when carbonic acid, 

 water, and ammonia disappear, and in their 

 place, under the influence of pre-existing proto- 

 plasm, an equivalent weight of the matter of 

 life makes its appearance ? ' 



" The answer is, Certainly ; the case is 

 changed in every possible way in which a 

 process, whether chemical or otherwise, can be 

 changed. But it must also be premised that 

 the fact as stated is not true, that when these 

 three substances disappear, under certain con- 

 ditions, an ' equivalent weight of the matter of 

 life makes its appearance.' Every chemist 



