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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1152 



Errara thinks that the facts can be ex- 

 plained upon the assumption that the two 

 forms generated somewhere in space, were 

 separated by being whirled around through 

 space, and that one of these forms reached 

 the earth. From this all other asymmetric 

 compounds might have originated. 



Kipping and Pope give the results of ex- 

 periments which prove that a single set of 

 crystals deposited from a solution of a ra- 

 cemic compound is not always composed of 

 equal amounts of the two forms, in which 

 case not only the crystals, but the mother 

 liquor as well, are optically active. Con- 

 ditions here which give rise to the optically 

 active substances are such as might exist in 

 a purely inorganic world. 



Professor Japp in his arguments in favor 

 of vitalism was at a disadvantage in that 

 his position upon the question compelled 

 him to assume the attitude of one who 

 denies the possibility of future advance- 

 ment. He not only had to contend that 

 none of the methods proposed would lead 

 to an asymmetric synthesis, but that no 

 methods ever would be discovered that 

 would lead to such a synthesis. This latter 

 position is a rather hazardous one to assume 

 in these days of scientific advancement, in 

 which the impossibilities of the one decade 

 become the realities of the next. Aside 

 from this attitude, the vulnerable point in 

 Japp's position is the statement "that the 

 chance synthesis of the simplest optically 

 active compound from inorganic materials 

 is absolutely inconceivable." It was 

 against this view that most of the criticism 

 was launched. In the subsequent discussion 

 Japp admitted, indirectly at least, that this 

 statement was perhaps too strong, for he 

 adds that "all my critics seem to be moving 

 in that unreal world where a font of type 

 if jumbled together sufficiently often ends 

 by setting up the text of Hamlet" — to 

 which Frankland replies that if the font of 



type were jumbled an infinite number of 

 times, the text of Hamlet must result. 



Stewart has also called attention to an- 

 other possible explanation for the genera- 

 tion of optically active forms in nature. 

 Cotton (1896) proved that the two forms 

 of copper ammonium tartrate absorb dextro- 

 eircularly polarized light unequally — a 

 difference which would tend to favor the 

 generation of the one form over the other 

 in the presence of such light. Byk (1904)' 

 has shown that light is circularly polarized 

 by reflection from water of the sea. Stew- 

 art finds in the combined observations of 

 Cotton and Byk a satisfactory explanation 

 for the presence in nature of optically 

 active forms. 



It is evident from the mere fact that Pro- 

 fessor Japp's contention aroused such a 

 series of discussions, and that these discus- 

 sions apparently only served to strengthen 

 the attitude of each of the participants in 

 his original belief, that the facts of asym- 

 metric syntheses can not be regarded as 

 giving evidence at all conclusive in favor 

 of the doctrine of vitalism. On the other 

 hand, it must be admitted that the oppon- 

 ents of the doctrine have advanced no con- 

 clusive arguments in opposition to it. For 

 while it is possible to imagine conditions 

 under which asymmetric groups might 

 have arisen in a purely inorganic world, 

 nevertheless, such an argument may have 

 little weight. To carry conviction the con- 

 ditions for producing such groups must not 

 only be possible; they must also lie within 

 the bounds of probability. Whether or not 

 the conditions assumed by Japp's critics to 

 account for the production of the first 

 asymmetric groups from inorganic mate- 

 rials, are probable conditions, is a question 

 upon which there would undoubtedly be a 

 difference of opinion. I am sure, how- 

 ever, that all of us would agree that some 



