VI. 



CONSIDERATION OF CARBON COMPOUNDS, OR 

 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, 



37. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. ELEMENTARY 

 ANALYSIS. 



Definition of organic chemistry. The term organic chemistry 

 was originally applied to the consideration of compounds formed 

 in plants and in the bodies of animals, and these compounds were 

 believed to be created by a mysterious power, called "vital 

 force," supposed to reside in the living organism. 



This assumption was partly justified by the failure of the 

 earlier attempts to produce these compounds by artificial means, 

 and also by the fact that the peculiar character of the com- 

 pounds, and the numerous changes which they constantly 

 undergo in nature, could not be sufficiently explained by the ex- 

 perimental methods then known, and the laws then established. 



It was in accordance with these views that a strict distinction 

 was made between inorganic and organic compounds, and ac- 

 cordingly between inorganic and organic chemistry, the latter 

 branch of the science" considering the substances formed in the 

 living organism, and those compounds which were produced by 

 their decomposition. 



Since that time, it has been shown that many substances 

 which were formerly believed to be exclusively produced in the 

 living organism, under the influence of the so-called vital force, 

 can be formed artificially from inorganic matter, or by direct 

 combination of the elements. It was in consequence of this 

 fact that the theory of the supposed "vital force," by which 

 organic substances could be formed exclusively, had to be 

 abandoned. 



