I9I3] I- K. Phelps 77 



lished by the Society. Considerable interest in the possibility of 

 such a Journal was shown, but, as no practical method of financing 

 the project was presented, no action was taken. 



I. K. Phelps, Secretary. 



Bureau of Chemistry, 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. 



II. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS, SEPTEMBER 12, 1913 



Gentlemen, I did not come to Rochester with the intention of 

 making a speech, but find — I am sorry to say — that Professor Cham- 

 bers expects me to talk. He made the request — or, shall I say, 

 demand — as we came into this room. I find that I am driven to 

 the usual refuge of those who have to speak when they would rather 

 be silent — that is, I will take refuge in the history of my subject. 



This subject has, I think, some general interest because originally 

 no very definite distinction was made between biochemistry and 

 any other kind of chemistry. One of the first real biochemists was 

 Lavoisier, whom all matter, whether living or dead, interested. He 

 performed the first calorimetric experiments. He was the inventor 

 of the ice calorimeter, and showed that animal heat was the result 

 of oxidation. All the chemists of that generation and the imme- 

 diately succeeding one did biochemical work. I need only cite 

 Liebig, who is perhaps in some ways the greatest of all biochemists. 

 Unfortunately, about the latter part of Liebig's life chemists lost in- 

 terest in biochemistry. This was due very largely to the sudden and 

 tremendous development of organic chemistry, which was brought 

 about by the discoveries of men like Hof mann and Kekule. It was 

 so easy to make new synthetic substances and, thereby, gain a sort 

 of immortality, even though the main result of putting a chlorine 

 atom here and a bromine atom there was to fill up Beilstein. In 

 consequence, thoroughly trained chemists did not busy themselves 

 with subjects that w^ere really important in the elucidation of that 

 matter which is found in living organisms, and which forms the 

 physiological basis of life. The scientists in biology and medicine 

 needed such Information. The chemists did not glve it to them. 

 Consequently, physicians and physiologists who were ill-equipped 

 for chemical research were forced to carry forward the work of 



