244 Biochemistry in New York Twcnty Ycars Ago [Jan. 



How little Dr. Herter appreciated the equipment that would be 

 required is indicated by bis Suggestion that the work be conducted in 

 the art studio of his brother, then absent in Europe. It did not re- 

 quire many months, however, to reveal to him something of the 

 technical scope of the field to which he was to devote the two decades 

 permitted him for the completion of his hfe work, At the outset, 

 he desired adequate equipment ; and when he returned f rom his sum- 

 mer rest, in 1891, he was enthusiastically appreciative of the well- 

 equipped laboratory awaiting him in the basement of his residence. 

 This, three years later, was transferred to his newly built home 

 where the entire upper floor, 50 X 100 feet, was devoted to this 

 special work. It was no unusual, though an unique, experience to 

 house in his animal room, rabbits, dogs, monkeys, füll grown hogs, 

 and other animals in an array that would have astounded the unin- 

 formed passerby in this district of elegant homes. 



It was not, however, the equipment that invites attention to 

 Herter's early work nor was it the display he made of his devotion 

 to this new field. Both were modest. What has lingered and al- 

 ways will remain in my memory of twenty years ago is the serious- 

 ness with which the work was undertaken. In later years, when 

 his life was so filled with the success and magnitude of his work, it 

 was to be expected that he would throw all that was in him into it ; 

 but that he should have devoted himself so largely to it when its 

 value was uncertain, or at least not demonstrated, indicates the 

 profound purpose that was leading him to undertake it. Not in- 

 frequently, when night had come and the day's work was done, we 

 forgot ourselves in both discussing what we had attempted and 

 planning what we hoped to do; finally awakening to a realization 

 that we were neglecting the proper demands of our respective family 

 circles. 



Only a fraction of the work done at that period was ever pub- 

 lished. The first paper, " Uric acid elimination in health and dis- 

 ease," was a record of investigations inspired by the extravagant 

 Claims of the English physician, Haig. We differed with him in 

 many important conclusions. We did not find that uric acid forma- 

 tion was always constant and that elimination was determined by the 

 degree of alkalinity of the blood, but found it to vary with the diet 



