3,3^ ^Ic'mricli l\inh(nisrn lApril 



of ai;ricu]lui"c. As i»nly ihe nidinicMils of a kiiowlcdge of llie 

 cliemical and ])hysical ])r()l)lenis of ihe i^rowlh and niaintenance of 

 plants and animals liad l)een ac(|nire(l, it seemed a sim])le matter to 

 instrucl ihe farnier in proper melhods to l)e eniployed in raising liis 

 crops and stock. No dou1)t remained in the minds of the early 

 scientists \\\\t) promoted this propaganda that ihe practical retiirns 

 of their efforts wonld soon l)e reahzed. 



Planis were to l)e fed with carbonic acid, nitrogen, and inorganic 

 salts, and ihe proper (jnaniity of each essential dement of plant 

 food was to l)e determined l)}- chemical analysis of the tissnes and 

 ash of the plant, the fertilizer snpplied and the soil in w hich it grew. 



Animals were supposed to be composed of substances directly or 

 indirecll}" assimilated from their foods. Their heat and mechanical 

 energy was snpplied by the carljohydrates and fats ; the all)nmin, 

 fibrin. casein and gelatin ])resent in their Ijlood, mnscle, milk, etc., 

 \vas fnrnished !)}■ identical proteins contained in the \arions vege- 

 table ])r()dncts \\\{h wliich they were fed. Here again chemical 

 analysis was to fnrnish the gnide to proper practice, which shonld 

 replace crude and wastefnl methods fonnded in ignorance of the 

 real factors involved. 



I.ittle did the enthusiasts who established the first agricultural 

 experiment Station realize what was before them nor what dis- 

 coxeries in e\'ery Ijranch of l)ii)logical science their efforts were to 

 lead to. Little did they dream of enzymes and liydrolyses, of 

 toxins and antitoxins and specificity of li\-ing tissues, of optical 

 isomers and tantomeric componnds, of nncleic acids and pyrimidines, 

 of amino-acids and Polypeptides, of colloids and surface tension, 

 nor of mnltitndes of other discoveries ^vhic]^ have followed chiefly 

 from the inspiration which Liebig imparted to those who worked 

 Avitli liim. 



All tliese disco\-eries had to ])e made l^efore the practical jjrob- 

 lems of agricnltnre conld be satisfactorily dealt with by the scientist ; 

 and it is evident that Ritthausen was one of tlie first to realize this, 

 for we find him, after a short experience in attempting an immediate 

 application of chemistry to the feeding of cattle, tnrning bis atten- 

 tion to a carefnl study of the protein constituents of their vegetable 

 foods. 



