December 22, 1904] 



NA TURE 



171 



chemist and the physiologist are entirely distinct. The 

 chemist, in studyini^ a biochemical product, starts by 

 dissectinfj it into a number of known atomic groups, 

 and when this analytic worli is complete, he seeks 

 to confirm his conclusions as to the constitution of the 

 substance by piecing these atomic groups together 

 again, so as to reproduce, the substance synthetically. 

 In accomplishing the latter part of his task, the 

 question of imitating biochemical conditions never 

 even occurs to him, inasmuch as for his purpose the 

 simplest and most efficient laboratory processes are 

 the best ; and when he has solved the problem from 

 his point of view he is satisfied. That alizarin and 

 indigo can not only be synthesised, but that they 

 can be synthesised so cheaply that the natural products 

 cannot compete with them in the market, is doubtless 

 a triumph both for the chemist and for the techno- 

 logist; but so long as each step of these syntheses is 

 effected either by means of such chemical agents or 

 under such conditions of temperature as would be 

 fatal to life in any form, it is evident that the results 

 are devoid of any biochemical bearing, and that the 

 physiologist is justified in disregarding them. Mean- 

 while, therefore, so far as the important subject of 

 the synthesis of vital products is concerned, there is 

 no helpful interaction between chemistry and physi- 

 ology. Each goes its own way. 



It is with the object of endeavouring to remove this 

 reproach from these sciences and of bringing about a 

 better understanding between them that Prof. Meldola 

 has written the present work, of which the first volume 

 is now before us. The work is, as the author states, 

 " a record of the synthetical achievements of gener- 

 ations of workers arranged with a distinct biochemical 

 bias." In fact, the title of one of the introductory 

 chapters, " Organic Chemistry from the Bio-centric 

 Standpoint," might have served as a subtitle for the 

 entire work. 



This biocentric standpoint has, as the author indi- 

 cates, necessitated an arrangement of the subject- 

 matter differing materially from that usu.-illy followed 

 in works on organic chemistry. In these the deriva- 

 tives are arranged under the parent compound, or 

 chemical type, from which in many cases they can be 

 |)roduced by processes of laboratory synthesis. But, 



" .According to the present scheme each vital product 

 is in itself a biochemical type quite independently of 

 I lie chemical type to which it may be referred, and 

 ihe synthesis of each product, instead of being men- 

 tioned incidentally in connexion with the group to 

 which it belongs as ;i point of minor interest, is here 

 brought into the first rank of imporlruu-e. In other 

 words, the chemical Ivpe is in this work subordinated to 

 the individual coinjiound — a mode of trcatinent for 

 which every justification will be conceded when it is 

 pointed out that in vital syntheses there are unquestion- 

 .ible genetic relationships between compounds of quite 

 different types " (p. 12). 



.\nother necessity arising from the biocentric stand- 

 point has been the recognition of " down-grade 

 synthesis " as well as of " up-grade synthesis " — of the 

 synthetic products obtained from complex generators 

 by fission as well as of those obtained from simpler 

 generators by union. Thus a number of substances 

 NO. 1834, VOL. 71] 



generally recognised as vital products do not occur 

 as such in the living organism, but are produced by 

 hydrolytic fission, sometimes during the process of 

 isolating them : thus alizarin from the glucoside 

 ruberythric acid. The justification for registering 

 these as vital products lies in the fact that their atomic 

 complexes are pre-existent in the glucosides and 

 similar compounds from which they are obtained. 



The details of these classifications are worked out 

 by the author with very great skill and with exhaus- 

 tive knowledge of the subject. References are every- 

 where given, no fewer than forty-five periodicals, not 

 to mention the patent literature, being quoted from. 

 Among the syntheses enumerated we have not suc- 

 ceeded in detecting any omissions. The author does 

 not claim to have sifted critically the enormous mass 

 of experimental records which he has brought to- 

 gether; he leaves to the investigators themselves Ihe 

 responsibility for their statements. His object is "to 

 bring practical workers, whether chemists, physi- 

 ologists, or technologists, into communication with 

 the various authorities quoted." 



The author admits that we are at present profoundly 

 ignorant of the modes of .synthetic action which go 

 on within the living organism, and he points to the 

 necessity for a more systematic study of the chemical 

 stages in which such action occurs — a branch of in- 

 vestigation for which plant life offers especial facilities. 

 He points to Charabot's researches on the develop- 

 ment of the terpene alcohols and ketones as examples 

 of the pioneering work required. He is firm in his 

 belief that such work will not only increase our 

 knowledge of biochemistry, but will place us in a 

 position to imitate the conditions of biochemical 

 synthesis. He writes : — 



" If, some decades hence, a work on similar lines to 

 the present should ever be compiled, it may be 

 anticipated with confidence that the laboratory methods 

 for synthesising vital products will have approximated 

 more closely to the physiological processes " (p. c)). 



This confidence in the future powers of the chemist 

 is closely connected with the author's attitude towards 

 Neovitalism. He says : — 



" I think it advisable to place on record the opinion 

 that the present achievements in the domain of 

 chemical synthesis furnish no warrant for the belief 

 that the chemical processes of the living organism 

 are in any sense transcendental, or that they must be 

 regarded as belonging to a class of special material 

 transformations which human science will never be 

 able to reproduce. Such an admission as the latter 

 would be tantamount to a proclamation of Neo- 

 vitalism There is no warrant for the belief 



that the physics or chemistry of animals and plants is 

 ultra-scientific " (Preface, p. vi). 



To the present reviewer the terms " transcendental " 

 and " ultra-scientific " seem to beg the question. It 

 is surelv a matter for legitimate and entirely " scien- 

 tific " inquiry, whether our present laws of chemistry 

 and physics, which have been deduced solely from the 

 study of dead matter, apply without qualification to 

 living matter. Possibly, when the conditions of the 

 biochemical problem are more thoroughly understood, 

 it may be, contrary to Prof. .Meldola's belief, just as 



