Sugar Made Artificially By Chemists The recent statement of the Pro-Chancellor of the Liverpool University (Mr. Hugh R. Rathbone) concerning the epoch-making researches into how the inorganic becomes organic made by the University's chemical department, suggests that we are on the eve of producing synthetic sugar and of discovering the origin of life.
Research work of a unique nature, he said, had been going on for a considerable time, the results of which would prove to be of great scientific interest, and would possibly prove to be extremely valuable from a practical point of view as well. One of the fundamental problems of science was to trace the steps by means of which the paks-age from inorganic to organic matter was brought about.
Such a reaction took place in the leaves of all land plants, where, in presence of sunlight, carbon. dioxide and water reacted together to build up sugars, starches, and cellulose. The mechanism of this reaction had now been studied in detail, with the result that not only had ai complete explanation of this all-important reaction been given, but quantities of sugar had actually been made in the University laboratories by the action of light of very short wave length on car-tonic acid.
Moreover, by employing certain dyestuffs the same reaction been shown to occur in ordinary sunlight. These experiments were all in the initial stage, but they were of great value, and comparable in their potentialities to the other research work he had mentioned.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.