191 1] Carl L. Aisberg 95 



of workers in these fields. It seemed worth while to make the 

 attempt to bring these men together in a section and to give them 

 a forum. Botany in this country at the present time is in the 

 same stage in its relation to biochemistry that medicine was a decade 

 er more ago. The phytochemist, and even the plant physiologist, 

 have no place where they may present their work before any biit 

 an audience of taxonomists and morphologists. They are widely 

 scattered, have no place where they may come in touch with one 

 another, and are hardly recognized as legitimate workers. But 

 few chairs on these subjects exist. It seemed possible that if these 

 scattered workers were brought together in a section the result might 

 be to stimulate research along these lines and to perform missionary 

 work in the advancement of this field. 



The young man working alone in this field in a smaller or out- 

 lying Institution finds it difficult to get in touch with the older, more 

 experienced men. It is the young man, however, who needs socie- 

 ties and who derives the most benefit from their meetings. The 

 American Chemical Society is a perfectly democratic Organization. 

 Election to membership is very easily attained. Consequently its 

 Biological Section would be open to isolated workers and thus might 

 serve a very useful purpose as a training ground. 



Finally, biochemistry has become a legitimate field of chemistry. 

 A great society like the American Chemical Society endeavors to 

 cover the entire field of chemistry. It would certainly be very 

 injurious to the progress of biochemistry on this continent if our 

 most important chemical society ignored it. 



It was therefore decided to reorganize the Biological Section of 

 the American Chemical Society along these lines. The result has 

 been very gratifying. Two meetings have been held, one at 

 Minneapolis and one at Indianapolis. The programs have been 

 large and interesting. The attendance has been good, and the 

 discussion spirited. The result has been that at the Indianapolis 

 meeting the Section voted to request the Council of the American 

 Chemical Society to organize the Section into a Division. This 

 request will be acted upon at the Christmas meeting of the Society 

 in Washington. The object of forming a Division is to give the 

 Section permanence. A section exists at the Option of the general 



