es 



On 



^§ matt 



e\v 



Kl 



\ 



er. 



iTiost 



the 



I 



con. 



') the 

 ^ be that 

 by mere 

 '*°"sly stated 

 ■^P apart, 



general, 

 therefore, as 

 -rent in |i 



-nient, though 



f 



5 in 



, ew, they maj 



< 2 



\ 



^Vhen a small 

 there cao 1* 



^ar, 

 ion, 



Liebigsays' 

 alimitea qua" 

 of the sains acH' 



ut the aciu 



le 



cons 



ideri 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



423 



I. {Synthetic Fermentations.) In this group the changes 

 that occur are wholly synthetic, leading to the evolution 

 of compounds which have a higher molecular 



plexity 



com- 



Schmitz 



observed, 



contact with strong hydrochloric acid causes the con- 

 uprQinn of cvanoeen into oxamide iC^ ^ "^ -\- o. H'^ O =C^ 



N^H 



This 



the elements of cyanogen and those of water. 



is one of the simplest examples, though a large number 



of such changes might be cited 1. 



(^ 



In these cases we find 



itrary distinc- I ^j^^t a more or less complex body breaks up into two 

 lical point of [ q^ more simpler products, as when starch and water, 



uch processes 



if Liebig and 

 it appears to 



in contact with sulphuric acid, is converted into dextrin 

 and glucose ^ or when salicin, in contact with the same 



acid, breaks up into saligenin and glucose. 



(A 



In this group 



the two processes occur simultaneously— the ferment- 

 able substance breaks up into simpler compounds, and 

 at the same time gives origin to higher and more 

 if no niw? | complex products 2. As a simple instance of such a 



change may be cited the fact, that tartaric acid, when 

 heated, not only yields such lower derivatives as water 

 and carbonic acid, but also the decidedly more com- 



j ^ See vol. ii. chap. xii. p. 24. 



* This is an occasion most favourable for the production of higher 

 compounds. Elements or compounds always unite most freely ' when 

 one or both are in the act of separating from some previous combination. 

 The state in which they are at that moment is called by chemists the 

 status nascens, or nascent state.' (Liebig.) 



