SCIENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 80, 28 December 1907, Page 14

SCIENCE NOTES.

:. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE. . PROFESSOR LOEB'S VIEW. ; . Profussor l.oob, who was reported recently .to havb. como' notably nearer solving, tho .problem of life, • summed up his investigatibns and' his ; ,deductions., therefrom before, tho IntornationaF Zoological Congress at tno ond of August. - ..Tho text, of this reniarkablo addross is uow.'to-haiid. Loeb; bbl.ipv.es that all -life ■ plieiiombna .'.aro_ ultimately, purely chemical; each step - ,in the vital ..process shouldtherefore,'be,.resolvable . into a definite series: of. chemical, reactions. . Loeb has at!tacked'the<problem' at,, the beginning by' trying to get' tb the bottom : of the chomistry, of fertilisation/" As a 'rulo an unfertilised, eggdoes not,develop;,arid it is clear that if once ,wo understand ■ the .chemical process which fertilisation implies wo shall have gouo far to find: an':oxplanatibn' of .tho, real .-nature of life. ' The brilliance of Loeb's, work .in this direction, is undeniable j and, his results aro .'of "the first ; ' .importance.'' The reader unfamiliar ■with.' chemistry, will be ablo to •gather their drift while taegleoting the few technical terms which have to bo used. Lceb begins by referring' to the chemical con-stitution'of-.tho'cell-nUcleus, the part which is ■essential to development. The main mass of tho nucleus •is an organic salt in which a protein substance is combined with nucleic acid. ' Nucleic; acid is' essentially phosphoric acid to which are coupled, purin bases (con-I taking nitrogen) and carbohydrates (substances liko /tho sugars). Phosphoric- acid is therefore, essential -to - development, and 'tho phosphaies! required' aro - shown to bo obtained from tho cell substances, and ,not' from tho solution in which the. cells may be placed.:, 'Jlt .i.S pext.shown that thero must Ho frM-oxygeil'fbr dovelojjment to take place; l'.eh'co 'tlie'. formation of ,'nuclein implies a. pro-, odss of oxidation.' Fertilisation therefore, in i.'somo way sets lip a process of oxidation.,To find .'ojit- how, -Loeb tried various means of imitating the. process chemically; ■he ■ first discovered that he could do", so by placing tho oggs .of sea-urchins ' and other low organisms in sea water: about half as salt again as usual, and therefore exerting ,a greater osmotic pressure. . But development did not .always: result;., and whon it did jt.was often abnormal.' Clearly tho sea water imitated some' bnt.. not all-of the conditions bfifertilisatibri.' iJoeb then-.added to his sea .water ; a small -percentage of-some monobasic fatty; : acid jVaftor- being'dipped, in this .and' again \ placedln', tlie , salt .water,. practically: all, the . eggs- developed-into larvae.; It .was seen'.;that, tho presence-of the. fatty acid caused the egg.:to form a . mombranp'; and this ofithevfirst consequences of normal '■ fertilisation.'! --'.It v. was . found that solutions; of sbdio . .-hydrate (caustic soda) ■ ac.tedvin.the;samp -.way:-as the fatty acid, but topk :iongor tisio.;' 'This, points' to- tho -fact that, these substances., simply, add a-con-' cen.tration ofi.-'hydrosyl ions',. (OH), to ,tho , bsmbtio' pressnre .'of. ; . the ions > of the: salts' in . sea;,.water,,;,Loeb, generalised these experiments by. making:-them /under various conditions,', and-on various' types of egg.; Passing from:, sea-urchins,, • lie. obtained growth withoiit''f6rtilis'ation'in. tho; case of. a .marine annelid,, of molluscs (the experiments ■of three-, years-'ago are: gr.oatly. surpassed by adding ;sbdicVhydrato; to'the sea water);-of 'starfish'(in jtheso, development-is'set up by :, a fatty 'acid'; a.lpnb)v :.and; of ■ a marine ' worm "(in whose.casb\'ions of- bven .inorganic acids :;set' 1 . up' dfe'velppmeht)'. •.'Jri ' .'all ' .these cases ;it; is plain.that '■tKo.'callirig forth of-tho niem.'br'anp fprmatibn: in. tho egg, starts the nuc-lein-"synthesis.. Loeb sliows 'that when .this, membrane'forms: there is: a solution of fatty cbmpound beneath'the surface film; and tho substances . referred ;to -as promoting the membrane.;growth' are- simply substances whiph ;. dissolve Mats. Immediately this is done the" q'xidation processes, begin in tho cell, and.v'-produco - tho.-'charact-eristic growth of nuclein;:. o .'As '.'far as-development is concerned, this account of .fertilisation goes a long "way: but the greater mystery of the part fertilisation plays' in heredity lies' outside the scope of Loeb's_enquiry. ' • . : MR EDISON'S : SIR-HIRAM MAXIM'S CRITICISM. ' • ;.';Sir Hiram Maxim ..'.does not take Mr. Edison's.statement that-ho has,"invented the\ . ideal ■ storage battbiy . quite 1 so seriously as Mr,' Edison took Sir-Hiram's-wireless jest. Sir':Hirain sent a,- telegram by the Marconi system to :Mr; ;Cooper. Hewitt,, a well-known. Ainericanj. expressing his admiration ..of Mr.. '■^iaTCpm r s r .achisvemerit; •' and Tsaying"tfi'e"oSly' ■thing remaining, 'to. bo., dono was 'to.; harness tho remainder, of Niagara: Falls, 1 and with:-the electricity producetl ,send a wireless, messago to-Mars..''. Mr. : ;Edisoh, J in' a".speech", reported' in tho "Express,""\solomnly'' stated.,his .belief, that Sir proposal was impracticable'.';, Sir .Hiram Maxim . laughed heartily,.when his attention was 1 called to Mr. Edison's ;. : by, an- '."Express".'represpnjtatiyo. ;.'. 'imagined any ono wpuld; havo- thohght'l'-was' serious I' would :haVo added;;.'This 1 is. - a /joke,' " .ho said. ,As ■ fpr.'_Mr..;Edispn's statement, that', he has' ,really' .'iriv'erited , an; electric'storage •' battery' .foil'.motor-cars,. l "Sir ; .-'.Birani '•, said lib, is de'lighted.' ".Mr. -Edison has'blight-ed.'.iny'life,'' ,Ko' said. "Ho has ' been 'inventing' a storage' ■ battery',; ever : since : Adam'. was a -littlo ■ boy, and. I; liavq'"put off' buying' a. motor-car all, that time simply 'because I thought I,should 'be ablo .to get one of Edison's, electric-motor-cars; 'i .while waiting,- and if 'Edison's ! battery; is- riot; 'ready; by.: next' year I have determined to buy-an ordinary .moto'rcar .with';vulgar ; petrol, "so that I- can help to make life, a horror to those who live in the country.". ' -j-'' \ 'Mr.' John-Kerr; of ."Messrs. 1 ,Dick,, Kerr, ;Co., Lihiited,'.' expressed . the greatest' Uprise' that-Mr; Edison should havo passed so Jigbtly in: his speech, from .an invention which would mean'the placing, on the" scrap heap of all;'existing accumulators to' another which .has been, known and .put, to nso- in England'; for;,thti',pa'st. thirty years. "We havo heard of tho perfection of Mr. Edison's storage battery, for some years,... It is tho optimistic way of inventors," ho said; "and it .is almost, comici'tp. read of tho workmen's cottages':- Built of-iron moulds-and-concrete j which were constructed'in this country thirty .y.ears i.agbj; .-.as, ,',an,;- /invention,' after Mr. Edison's.mom.ep.tpus stistemerit in regard' to his.storago'.'battery;'-! 1 '*•, ~ y • .