1913I Thomas B. Osbonie 337 



His earliest paper on this subject, which appeared in the Jonnial 

 für praktische Chemie in 1862, described the proteins of wheat ; 

 and for five successive years he pnblished papers on this same sub- 

 ject. In the conrse of this work he isolated glutaminic acid from 

 the products of hydrolysis of the gluten proteins, a discovery which 

 ranks among the more important made by biochemists. He then 

 extended his investigations to seeds of importance for nutrition, 

 hardlv a year passing when he did not contribute two or more papers 

 on the resnlts of his work. 



In 1872 he pnl)hshed a review of his earher work nnder the 

 title Die Eiz^'cisskörpcr der Getreidearten. HiUseufrüeJiteii und 

 Oelsamen. This was the first attempt made to furnish an account 

 of wliat had been learned respecting the properties of proteins of 

 vegetable origin. Akhongh this work contained nmch of vahie to 

 animal physiologists, and was suggestive in man\- ways in con- 

 nection with the problems then claiming their attention, few of them 

 appear to have read it with the care that it deserved. Authors of 

 text-books on physiological chemistry, for many years after, dis- 

 covered in it nothing more than the fact that Ritthausen employed 

 dikite alkahne Solutions in isolating his preparations, and con- 

 sec[uently dismissed his results with the Statement that all his 

 products were altered in their preparation and so deser\'ed little 

 consideration on the part of physiologists. Although such a criti- 

 cism did not apply to the proteins soluble in strong alcohol which 

 Ritthausen had described, and which after fifty years have l)ecome 

 of much importance in the study of problems of nutrition. these 

 remained for man\- years unknown to nearly every [)hysiological 

 chemist. After the pulilication of this review, Ritthausen con- 

 tinued his work until it included most of the seeds used for feeding 

 men and animals. 



When Hoppe-Seyler and \\'e}l introduced neutral saline S(j1u- 

 tions as solvents for many of the proteins of animal and vegetable 

 origin, Ritthausen's results were regarded with increasing disfavor 

 by physiological chemists. Undiscouraged by the unfair treatment 

 accorded him, Ritthausen re-examined ])y the aid of salt solutions 

 nearly all of the seeds which lie had previously studied, and also 

 showed that most of his earlier preparations were still soluble in 



