INTRODUCTION 



The great advances in biochemistry which have 

 come in a few decades have impressed both the in- 

 formed layman and scientist. The scientist who has 

 made an effort to acquire more than a passing 

 acquaintance with the subject is appreciative of not 

 only the elegance of method and the intellectual 

 challenge of the field but in addition the implica- 

 tions, sometimes of even a philosophical nature, of 

 these discoveries to other subdivisions of biology. 

 For instance, the biochemical unity disclosed 

 incidentally along with the elucidation of basic path- 

 ways of metabolism is as effective support for Dar- 

 winian evolution as is comparative anatomy. With- 

 out a fossil record, and assuming that evidence from 

 comparative anatomy were in some way unavailable, 



