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Excerpt from Researches on Cellulose: II (1900-1905) Chemists of previous generations have paid relatively little attention to the amorphous or colloidal state of matter; and the appearance of uncrystallisable products of reaction, in investigations of carbon compounds, usually evoked the epithet of 'Schmiere,' applied rather as an epitaph. This procedure was perhaps the expression of a constitutional preference for bodies of certain typical physical characteristics, but actually we think it implied the recognition, partly reasoned, partly instinctive, that in the colloidal state we lose touch of the organic relationships which obtain in the great groups of carbon compounds defined and represented by constitutional formulae. If cellulose had been thus met with as an amorphous product of reaction-that is, in its alternative structureless forms - it might very well have been included in the heterogeneous class of 'Schmier' compounds; it certainly would not have attracted the attention of investigators to the degree of devotion of which it has been the object. It might be held that the attractiveness of 'cellulose' as a subject of investigation lies in considerations of utility, and that only its disproportionate technical importance could have supplied the motive for researches which lack the clear direction and control of the leading antecedent generalisations of the science. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfect