OF THE VITAL PHENOMENA. 



3 



language of the new experiments ; Galvatii did not receive any 

 satisfaction, he died without having found any recognition. 

 And when Du Bois Rcymond proved in the year 1843 the cor- 

 rectness of Galvani's views of the presence of electrical currents 

 in animals, nevertheless no voice was raised in favour of the 

 theory that electricity is the " printum movens " of all the vital 

 phenomena. And indeed the electrical phenomena observed are 

 just like the heat secondary actions, but not the first cause 

 of life. 



Since the middle of last century another view has gained 

 much foothold — , a view that was even defended by Licbig — , the 

 theory that organisms are ruled by quite a specific force, different 

 from any other, inscrutable to men, and supernatural : this force 

 was called vital force. Justus Licbig said : " the cause of vital 

 force is not chemical force, not electricity, not magnetism ; it is 

 a force that possesses the most general qualities of all causes 

 of motion, of variation of form and qualities of matter, and a 

 specific force," because it produces effects like no other force." 

 "The laws of life and every thing disturbing, promoting, or 

 varying them can doubtless be investigated, but without ever 

 knowing what life really is." Even in the third edition of this 

 work' 5 , published 1846, we find upon the first page: "in the 

 animal egg, in the plant-seed is recognizable a remarkable 

 activity, a cause of increase in substance, a compensation of loss, 



a force in the state of rest this force we call vital force.' 1 '' 



From page 225 the following characteristic passage may be 

 quoted : " another fundamental error entertained by physiologists 

 is, that physical or chemical forces alone or in combination with 

 anatomy could suffice to explain the vital phenomena." 



This reactionary movement of Licbig was principally due to 

 the opposition to the great and fervent hopes created by the 

 first synthesis of an organic compound, namely that of urea by 

 Woehler in the year 1828. Previous to this year it was often 

 asserted that organic substances could only be formed by " vital 



1) Die organ. Chem. in ihrer Anwendung auf Physiol, und Pathol., Braun- 

 schweig 1842 p. 7 and p. 237. These few quotations will clearly show how erroneous 

 the opinion is, that Liebig was the first, who combated the hypothesis of the 

 supernatural vital force, an opinion, which we find in some german textbooks of 

 physiological chemistry. See also Chem. Briefe of 1858. Chapt. 23. 



