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

HALINA LICHOCKA* THE METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY jQdrzej Sniadecki's work In the times of the Enlightenment, plant and animal chemistry had already established itself among the natural sciences and was recognized as a branch of chemistry. In spite of that, organic substances, the subject-matter of the new science, had not ceased to give rise to controversy. Moreover, as research advanced, the difficulties only seemed to increase. For how could it be that the whole wealth of animate nature was reducible to but a few elements, while in a relatively small number of mineral compounds several dozen were found? Was not the astonishingly small number of elements that plants and animals were composed of something inconceivable? Was it possible to apply the usual scientific categories and methods in the investigation of these remarkable phenomena? It was rather supposed that the nature of organic substances was unique and was governed by laws of its own. The fact that no organic substance could be obtained in laboratory conditions also spoke in favour of the specificity of mechanisms underlying the appearance of substances found in living organisms. The conviction about the special character of such substances was shared by Jedrzej Sniadecki in his Teoria jestestw organicznych (A theory, of organic beings).^ This was an original work in which the author presented his own system of life sciences. An important place in the system was occupied by discussions of the interrelations between animate and inanimate matter, which took account of the mechanistic views on the structure of chemical compounds and on affinities as an inherent feature of elements. The formation of substances of which plant and animal bodies were composed was deemed in Sniadecki's work to be due to an organic force, opposed to the affinities and constituting an attribute of life. In putting forward the concept of an organic force, Sniadecki drew on the vitalist views of Ernst Stahl, the propounder of the phlogiston theory. However, unlike Stahl, * Polska Akademia Nauki, Institut Historii Nauki Nowy Syat 72. p. 9, 00-330 Warsawa (Poland)