B.— CHEMISTRY. 55 



common alkalis, or the metals of the platinum group. Such chemical 

 curiosities as beryllium, gallium, germanium, indium and thallium rarely 

 excite the scientific interest of our investigators. Yet the chemical study 

 of the less common elements, and especially of those grouped under the 

 disparaging term of ' minor metals,' is a matter of considerable scientific 

 importance and one which sooner rather than later is likely to yield results 

 of industrial value. If proof of this statement is needed, reference may 

 be made to the inert gases which were first noticed in 1894 and subsequently 

 foimd by Kamsay and Travers to be five in number. To-day three of 

 these gases are employed industrially. 



I have already mentioned low temperature tar which is literally a 

 burning question. The great German combination of chemical factories — ■ 

 the Interessen Gemeinschaft — have recently filed patents describing the 

 catalytic effect of molybdic acid on the hydrogenation under pressure of 

 this intractable material. They claim a clear volatile product obtainable 

 in good yield and suitable for motor fuel. Further investigation shows 

 that this beneficial catalytic influence is peculiar to molybdenum com- 

 pounds and is not possessed by analogous compounds of the other metals 

 of the sixth periodic family. It certainly pays to study chemically the 

 idiosyncrasies of the rarer elements and their derivatives. 



The Organic Chemistry op Vital Products. 



At the Bristol meeting of 1898, Prof. F. R. Japp's presidential address 

 to tliis section dealt with the subjects of stereochemistry and vitalism. 

 He called attention to Nature's method of preparing single optically 

 active substances, and referred to the insufliciency of the mechanical 

 explanation of vitalistic phenomena. 



Considerable advances have since been made in our knowledge of the 

 fundamental process of photosynthesis, notably as the result of suggestive 

 discoveries by Prof. Baly and his collaborators, but nevertheless we still 

 have much to learn from Nature in regard to the sjmthesis of carbon 

 compounds. This study of the products of the vital activities of animal 

 and vegetable organisms was the original province of organic chemistry, 

 and to this circumstance the science owes its distinctive name. During 

 the last eighty years, however, organic chemists have extended the scope of 

 enquiry to many substances which are produced not as the result of vital 

 forces, but through the agency of the laboratory arts. 



For instance, the organometallic compounds, which have no counter- 

 parts in nature, have received intensive study because of their influence on 

 the development of modern chemical theory, their practical application in 

 many operations of organic synthesis and their utilisation as drugs, 

 weapons of chemical warfare and antidetonants. No objection can be 

 urged against the continued investigation of such important artificial 

 products providing that naturally occurring organic materials are not 

 overlooked. 



Prof. Japp's address supplies the philosophic reason for a closer study 

 of the products of vital activity, and at present other more mundane 

 considerations may be adduced in support of such researches. 



Political and economic forces are bringing into prominence the urgency 

 for a mutually advantageous interchange of commodities between the 



