Technikatörténeti szemle 22. (1996)

Papers from the Second International Conference on the History of Chemistry and Chemical Industry (Eger, Hungary, 16–19 August, 1995) - Lichocka, Halina: The Methodological Problems of Organis Chemistry in the First Half of the 19th Century – Jedrzej Sniadeckis work

Sniadecki did not identify the organic force either with the soul, or with any supernatural factor. "And just as any other kind of matter is in a physical bond, so all organic beings, down to their smallest particles, are, with regard to their component elements, in an organic bond", wrote Sniadecki and then concluded: "Thus, organic chemistry, based as it is upon a different principle, should be a science quite apart from that of general chemistry".

2 Sniadecki's work was translated into German and French.

3 It may have been known, as Wladyslaw Szumowski maintained,

4 by Johannes Müller (1801-1858), who is considered to be the father of German experimental physiology. Adam Wrzosek pointed out

5 that a theory of life similar to that of Sniadecki's was propounded many years later by another German physiologist and chemist - Justus Liebig. The appeal of Sniadecki's views was assessed in the following way by Wladyslaw Tatarkiewicz: "...he was the first eminent scientist who ...spoke out if favour of Kant... came out in defence of a priori cognition. Applying Kantian ideas to natural science, he created something new, something that was only much later taken up by Johannes Müller, Helmholtz and other famous scientists of the 19th century".

6 Sniadecki thought that the organic force was responsible for transforming nutritive matter and decided upon the individual existence of each living being. It was qualitatively different from affinity, which manifested itself in the tendency of bodies of various nature to combine one with another, the result of which were new substances. The force of affinity determined the whole chemical system of the physical world. Affinity was deemed to obtain between the tiniest particles of matter, and the values of the force of affinity could be different, with the reasons for the differences remaining unknown. In order for a chemical reaction to be initiated the force of affinity between the particles of substrates had to overcome the prior state of equilibrium, or the force of cohesion and affinity which sustained the old compound. Sniadecki described the aggregate resistance of matter against the formation of chemical bonds as forces of inertia („repose"). Transforming nutritive matterIn living organisms, on the other hand, could only be initiated, according to Sniadecki, when the organic force overcame the static forces and the force of affinity jointly. Therefore if the value of the organic force was to be too small, then not only would no new organic compounds be formed, but also the existing one would undergo mineralization. An important factor of life was heat, because it facilitated the activity of the organic force. Sniadecki introduced a clear distinction between chemical and organic compounds. The first type of compounds were those resulting for the ten-