January 26, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



79 



indirectly. He likewise emphasizes the fact 

 that all attempts to utilize the magnetic 

 field and polarized light have met with 

 failure and concludes that even if an asym- 

 metric force were to be discovered it could 

 not lead to the production of a single form 

 of an asymmetric compound. 



No fortuitous concourse of atoms, even with all 

 eternity for them to clash and combine in, could 

 compass this feat of the formation of the first 

 optically active organic compound. . . . But the 

 chance synthesis of the simplest optically active 

 compound from inorganic materials is absolutely 

 inconceivable. So also is the separation of two 

 crystaUized enantiomorphs under purely symmetric 

 conditions. ... I see no escape from the conclu- 

 sion that, at the moment when life first arose, a 

 directive force came into play — a force of pre- 

 cisely the same character as that which enables the 

 intelligent operator, by the exercise of his Will, to 

 Belect one crystallized enantiomorph and reject its 

 asymmetric opposite. 



Pearson dissents strongly from Japp's 

 view that ' * the chance synthesis of the sim- 

 plest optically active compound from in- 

 organic materials is absolutely inconceiv- 

 able." Japp had likened the result of the 

 process whereby the dextro and levo forms 

 of an asymmetric compound are produced 

 from inorganic or symmetrical materials, to 

 the tossing of a coin. If the coin is a per- 

 fectly balanced one the chances are equal 

 as to whether it falls heads or tails; so in 

 the synthesis of an asymmetric compound 

 the chances are equal for the production of 

 the two possible forms. Pearson argues, 

 however, that if one will toss a coin (say) 

 twenty times that while the results in gen- 

 eral will be ten heads and ten tails, never- 

 theless there will be a variation from this 

 mean; and that if the act of tossing were 

 to be continued an infinite number of times 

 one might come to an instance of twenty 

 heads or twenty tails. So in the synthesis 

 of the dextro and levo forms of an asym- 

 metric compound, any action which gives 

 rise to them, carried on through the ages, 



must produce the two forms in unequal 

 amounts and the fonn in excess would then 

 act as "breeders" in building up other 

 asymmetric forms. 



Fitzgerald argues that life probably 

 originated from a few centers and possibly 

 a single center. In the former case the 

 chances are that either the dextro or the 

 levo form predominated, so that asymmetry 

 might have resulted, while in the latter 

 case asymmetry must have resulted. 



Herbert Spencer in criticizing the atti- 

 tude of Japp states that he does so not 

 "for the purpose of showing the adequacy 

 of the physico-chemical interpretation of 

 life, but for the purpose of showing the 

 inadequacy of Professor Japp's argument 

 against it." Spencer insists that, even 

 granting that the dextro and levo forms of 

 protein were formed originally in equal 

 numbers these would not remain mixed 

 together, but that their separation would 

 follow in accordance with a universal law 

 to the effect that unlike units, when acted 

 upon by the same forces, are affected differ- 

 ently and that ultimately this difference 

 will result in the segregation of the like 

 units; in other words, the dextro and levo 

 forms would in the course of time separate 

 into the two groups of like molecules. 



Others criticize Japp's statement to the 

 effect that the right- and left-handed crys- 

 tals can not be separated except through the 

 agency of life. They think it quite possi- 

 ble for such a separation to have been 

 brought about by ordinary natural agencies. 



Thus Bartrum holds that it is entirely 

 conceivable that the two forms of crystals 

 on separation might be unevenly grouped, 

 and that conditions might change so that 

 partial solution would take place in which 

 the one set of crystals might be more 

 favorably situated than the other, and that 

 the resulting solution would then be op- 

 tically active. 



