54 



NATURE 



[November 17, 1904 



enough worse material. Such a definition, if adopted, 

 would be " calculated to facilitate the work of the un- 

 fortunate public analysts who may be called upon to express 

 an opinion as to the genuineness of a sample of brandy," 

 and the question, what is brandy? analytically speaking, 

 would no longer "await solution." Recent analyses to 

 which you refer have at any rate reduced a large section 

 of the brandy trade to the confession that much of the stuff 

 they sold never had its origin in the grape at all. The 

 public house trade now posts notices in the bars that it 

 cannot guarantee the brandy sold to be genuine grape 

 spirit. 



The attitude of the French committee is not difficult to 

 understand, and there can be no objection to it so long as 

 the trade, in the interests of which it has undertaken 

 the inquiry, determines on issuing an honest label setting 

 forth that either the spirit is a pot still spirit from grape 

 wine or it is not. S. Arch. Vasey. 



Bromley, Kent, November 8. 



The Origin of Life. 



Although there are good reasons for believing that the 

 life of our world is the product of its own physical con- 

 ditions, and distinct from the life of other members of the 

 solar system, it is hardly probable that living substance 

 can be produced otherwise than by the same conditions that 

 produced it in the past, and one of these conditions is a 

 vast period of time. 



We are not acquainted with any life apart from " cells." 

 But the cell is a very complex organism, and between in- 

 organic substance and the cell there may have been as long 

 a course of evolution as between the cell and the highest 

 existing animal or vegetable. Probably most biologists 

 nowadays regard life not as an entity (e.g. not as a " vital 

 force "), but rather as a coordination of many physical 

 processes which have become more numerous and better 

 coordinated in the course of evolution. It is not to be sup- 

 posed that the total functions of life would be developed 

 in not-living substances under the restricted conditions of 

 human experiment ; nevertheless, some of the individual 

 functions might be brought into action, at least in a 

 primitive form. 



One of these functions, which I believe to be the most 

 fundamental, is the deoxidation of a compound containing 

 the elements N, O, C, H, &c., by the action of light, 

 moderate heat, or slight electrical disturbance. This is the 

 foundation of biosynthesis — a small beginning which in 

 the course of ages develops mechanisms so perfect as the 

 photosynthesis in chlorophyll-bearing cells. We ought by 

 research to discover the conditions on which such de- 

 oxidation depends, and imitate it in our laboratories ; we 

 might even apply it to important economic purposes. 



This deoxidation is probably a perfectly natural process, 

 as natural as the opposite process of oxidation, only it must 

 not be sought in the behaviour of mere oxides, as CO,, but 

 rather in that of compounds containing N, O, C, H, &c., 

 as above suggested. In fact, it may be expected to be nearly 

 a reversal of the process of vital oxidation, which has been 

 more successfully investigated. Vital oxidation seems to 

 take place in two stages, as follows ; — (i) the O is taken 

 into combination with the N in a complex molecule, (2) it 

 is transferred from the N to a more oxidisable element. 

 Whether complete linking occurs between O and N, as 

 = N=, we cannot say; but the linkings =C — O — N = 

 and H — O — N= are probable. The oxygen-carrying func- 

 tion of N seems to be assisted in many (if not all) cases 

 by Fe. 



First attempts at life may be occurring continually around 

 us, but if any synthetic substances be formed they are sure 

 to be seized and assimilated by the already developed 

 organisms. F. J. .\llen. 



Cambridge, November 12. 



Change in the Colour of Moss Agates. 



In connection with Mr. Whitton's inquiry (Nature, 

 November 10, p. 31), the following note may be of interest. 



On the top of the West Cliff at Bournemouth the road 

 is laid with material which includes a number of flint 

 pebbles. These are, as a rule, rounded or subangular, and 

 of a yellow or whitish-yellow colour as regards their general 

 surface. But where exposed to the air the colour has 



NO. !8.?9. VOL. 71] 



changed to deep blue, violet, or purple, and so much so 

 that in places the whole surface of the road has a marked 

 blue shimmer. Or perhaps it should rather be said that 

 this was the case last autumn ; I have not seen it since. 



As will be seen from the enclosed specimen, the contrast 

 between the imbedded and the exposed portion of the pebbles 

 is very striking. 



Without giving any special study to the matter, I was 

 inclined at the time to attribute the phenomenon either to 

 a further oxidation and hydration of the iron which is, no 

 doubt, present in the flints, or, possibly, to a molecular re- 

 arrangement of the silica. At some points the blue colour 

 passes almost into black ; this suggests that it may indicate 

 a transition stage between yellow and black flints. 



Possibly some mineralogist has examined the matter more 

 thoroughly. C. Simmonds. 



Northcroft, Deronda Road, Heme Hill, November 14. 



Chemical Analysis for Beginners 



In a review on this subject (this vol., p. 5) " J. B. C." 

 directs attention once again to the unsuitability of an 

 extended study of analysis for a beginner. His opinions 

 not only claim respect, but must be largely shared by all 

 teachers of chemistry. 



There is, however, a side to the question which somehow 

 seems rather to be overlooked. The average elementary 

 student will work patiently for hours over qualitative 

 analysis, well taught, badly taught, or not taught at all — 

 he is interested, and though none too willing to use brains 

 as well as tables, he is ready under guidance to do his best. 

 But in any logical system of elementary quantitative and 

 preparation work calculated to build up a firm foundation in 

 the principles of chemistry he appears to take no natural 

 interest, when it comes to actual work. Possibly " J. B. C." 

 will not agree that this is so ; and it may be right that the 

 student should be compelled (if it can be done) to think 

 logically from the first. But it seems not unimportant to 

 interest him in practice as well as " on paper." 



I do not refer to the embryo professional chemist who 

 soon gets through the introductory work and is nearly 

 always interested, but to that enormous crowd of text-book 

 consumers who spend, possibly, three hours per week in 

 the chemical laboratory as part of their scheme of study. 

 Does not the marked change of attitude in such students 

 when qualitative analysis is touched upon indicate that there 

 is still room for fundamental improvement in the method 

 of presenting first steps in practical chemistry? 



F. SOUTHERDEN. 



Royal Albert Memorial College, Exeter. 



Misuse of Words and Phrases. 



In Mr. Basset's book, to which he refers in Nature of 

 November 10 (p. 30), he speaks of the advantage of having 

 " a concise and pointed mode of expression, which saves a 

 great deal of circumlocution and verbosity." He thinks 

 that this object is best gained by coining a new word from 

 the Greek, for instance, atitotoinic, whereas I hold that 

 the same object is better gained by adopting a word of 

 English derivation, self-cutting. Mr. Basset now says that 

 he considers this word " inelegant," and, in the absence 

 of any standard of elegance, I can only reply that this is a 

 matter of individual taste. Perhaps it would be better still 

 to call a curve that has double points a " nodal curve," and 

 one that has none a " nodeless curve." The word binodal 

 is already in use. 



As regards the phrase " non-singular cubic," it is clearly 

 inaccurate if, with Pliicker, we speak of " singular lines " 

 as well as " singular points," and include all these under 

 the term singularities ; but 1 rather think that in English 

 books the term singularity was formerly not applied to 

 double tangents, or even to points of inflection. 



November 14. 1 ■ H- ^■ 



Reason in Dogs. 



.\propos of ■' thinking cats," perhaps the following story 

 of a practical joke played by a dog will interest your readers. 



.\ friend of mine, Mr. W., owns a Manchester terrier of 

 which he is very fond, and for that reason receives rather 

 more than doggy attention. The dog passes most of his 

 time in the library, where a basket and rug are provi<ied for 

 him, hut he prefers, when it is possible, to take possession 



