SKETCH OF RUSSELL H. CHITTENDEN. 117 



and practical medicine was only beginning to be felt even in Ger- 

 many. 



Up to 1874 only an occasional student availed himself of the 

 opportunities afforded by the new course in biology in the Sheffield 

 Scientific School, and physiology and physiological chemistry were 

 taught only in name. In the class of 1875, however, there were six 

 or seven students taking the new course, and it was decided to start 

 an independent laboratory of physiological chemistry. I^ominally 

 under the charge of one of the professors of chemistry, the laboratory 

 instruction was really placed in the hands of the inexperienced and 

 youthful assistant, who, although not yet a graduate, had manifested 

 remarkable ability in both acquiring and imparting knowledge in 

 this direction. The laboratory was a single small room provided 

 with the simplest of equipments, but the young man was full of en- 

 thusiasm, and by hard and persistent work managed to keep ahead of 

 his class and pilot them safely through a moderate course of study. 



Immediately after his graduation Mr. Chittenden was appointed 

 instructor in physiological chemistry, which position he held until 



1878, acquiring each year added experience and facility. Further, 

 each year witnessed the completion and publication of some piece of 

 scientific research in his favorite branch. Having now made up his 

 mind to devote himself to physiological chemistry, and feeling the 

 necessity of a broader knowledge of the subject than could be 

 acquired in this country, he decided to go abroad, and accordingly 

 1878 and 1879 were spent in Germany, chiefly at Heidelberg with 

 Professor Kiihne, where the time was occupied mainly with the study 

 of experimental physiology, physiological chemistry, and histology. 

 Not only were routine courses pursued, but Mr. Chittenden's natural 

 bent for scientific investigation led to constant work in the laboratory, 

 with the result that in 1879 three papers on physiological subjects 

 were published by him in the Untersuchungen aus dem physio- 

 logischen Institute der Ihiiversitdt Heidelberg, and one in the Eng- 

 lish Journal of Physiology. Returning to America in the fall of 



1879, Mr. Chittenden took his former position at I^ew Haven, more 

 fully equipped for his life work. The establishment at this time of 

 the American Chemical Journal led to an invitation to wi"ite a series 

 of reports upon recent progress in physiological chemistry, which 

 were continued for several years. 



In 1880 he received from Yale the degree of Ph. D., and in 1882 

 he was appointed professor of physiological chemistry at Yale, and 

 member of the governing board of the Sheffield Scientific School. 

 In this same year he received an urgent invitation from Professor 

 Kiihne to come to Heidelberg and join with him in a series of inves- 

 tigations upon the physiology of digestion. Accordingly, on the 1st 



