218 Perspecfives in Microbiology 



studies in microbiology, it is worth mentioning that the 

 first Nichols Gold Medal of the American Chemical So- 

 ciety was awarded to the bacteriologists Voorhees and Steel 

 for their paper entitled "Studies in Denitrification." 



The initiative taken by Voorhees was magnificently car- 

 ried on by Dr. Jacob G. Lipman, who in 1911 succeeded 

 him as director of the Experiment Station. Of the many 

 great merits of Lipman, I mention only his clear recog- 

 nition of the vastness of the domain in soil microbiology 

 that was still waiting for scientific exploration. He made 

 several valuable contributions to our knowledge of the 

 microflora of the soil, and in numerous reviews and books 

 did a great deal to stimulate interest in the field. In the 

 outstanding journal Soil Science^ which he founded and 

 of which he was editor-in-chief until his death, he erected 

 an imperishable monument to himself. Finally, he proved 

 his great wisdom in the selection of collaborators worthy 

 of the high reputation of the Experiment Station. Of these 

 I will mention only two: Dr. Selman A. Waksman, who 

 entered the station in 1918 and who succeeded Lipman 

 after his death in 1939, and Dr. Robert L. Starkey, who 

 joined his staff in 1926. 



Both scientists are here in our midst. I need not discuss 

 the highly important work they have done that has made 

 the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station the mecca 

 of soil microbiologists from all over the world. Character- 

 istic of the way in which the problems of soil microbi- 

 ology have been attacked here is the purely scientific spirit 

 in which the investigations have been conducted. Increased 

 knowledge of the microbial world in its divergent mani- 

 festations has always been the leading principle. 



Studies of this type usually fail to impress the general 

 public, but as the representative of so many microbiolo- 

 gists assembled here, I think I may and should testify that 

 our admiration for Dr. Waksman as a scientist dates back 



