I9I3] H. M. A. 213 



cance of the nucleic acids. He went to Berlin in 1901 where he 

 spent a year in chemistry with Emil Fischer and in plant physiology 

 with Kny. One vacation was spent at Frankfurt a/M with Ehrlich, 

 Weigert, Edinger and C. von Noorden, in studies especially of the 

 side-chain theory and other conceptions of immunity ; another vaca- 

 tion was devoted to clinical medicine with Kuttner, Piorkowski and 

 others. 



In the fall of 1902 Aisberg returned to this country, to accept 

 the Position of assistant in physiological chemistry at the Harvard 

 Aiedical School. In 1905 he was advanced to instructor in bio- 

 logical chemistry and put in charge of the Organization of the 

 Department of Biological Chemistry at the new Harvard Medical 

 School. From 1906 to 1908 he was in charge there (jointly with 

 L. J. Henderson) of the teaching and research in biological chem- 

 istry. From 1907 to 1908 he conducted, in addition, special in- 

 vestigations for the U. S. Bureau of- Fisheries, at Woods Hole, 

 Mass. 



While at Harvard, Aisberg not only organized and developed an 

 efficient and unusual department for undergraduate teaching, but 

 also, as head of the department, put on a firm basis, for the first 

 time in that institution, a System of graduate instruction and re- 

 search in biological chemistry. 



Alsberg's success as a teacher, both of undergraduates and 

 graduates, has been appreciated by all who have come in contact 

 with him. In fact, it has been recognized by miany that his gift in 

 this direction is so pronounced that they have repeatedly urged him 

 to devote himself exclusively to teaching. But the strong spirit of 

 research, coupled with his broad biological interests, would not 

 permit him to confine himself to teaching, and when, in 1908, the 

 Position of chemical biologist, in charge of the Poisonous-Plant 

 Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry in the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, at Washington, was offered to him, he accepted 

 it with the belief that, by freeing himself from the enticing but 

 time-consuming occupation of teaching, he might accomplish more 

 in research. This conclusion has been amply justified by the results 

 of his investigation of poisonous plants, notably the loco weed, and 

 the biochemistry of various moulds. In this connection, it may be 



