PROCEEDINGS OF THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 381 



the hundreds of ways possible. Since this particular combination 

 is unknown it can readily be seen that the task of building up 

 the molecule of natural protein is to say the least one of prodi- 

 gious labor. Fischer has temporarily given up the study of the 

 proteins for the reason that no way has been found for purifying 

 the more highly complex synthetic products and is now devoting 

 himself largely to a study of the natural compounds known as 

 the tannins. In this field he has developed methods for building 

 up tannin-like bodies, some of them of great complexity. One 

 of the compounds so prepared has the formula Co.,, Hj^_, O-g N^ L, 

 (molecular weight, 4021). This is the most complex compound 

 so far prepared synthetically and obtained in a pure condition. 



In connection with the study of synthetic organic chemistry 

 one can without injustice scarcely avoid mentioning the work 

 of Ehrlich and his associates in building up compounds that have 

 proven to be of great worth in the treatment of certain disease 

 — discoveries that have led to the development of that field of 

 science known as chemo-therapy. These substances seem to act 

 not by directly destroying the micro-organisms causing the disease 

 but by inciting the organ to secrete an anti-body. 



Of no less importance is the work of numerous investigators 

 in building up the organic dyes. If one were to select any one 

 achievement that stands out in this line of investigation it would 

 probably be the synthesis of indigo and its development into a 

 commercial process. Basyer, in his investigations carried on 

 between i860 and 1880 succeeded not only in establishing the 

 structural formula of indigo but in synthesizing the compound. 

 The amount produced however was small and the method of 

 production in no sense a commercial one. The Germans, how- 

 ever, recalling the successful production of the natural dye 

 alizarin on a commercial scale, saw in Baeyer's discovery a 

 great possibility. After 17 years of chemical investigation and 

 the expenditure of over $5,000,000 the synthetic production of 

 indigo on a commercial scale was finally realized (1897). The 

 synthetic product is not only superior to the natural indigo in 

 that it is pure but it can be sold at a lower price than the natural 

 product. A nation whose faith in chemistry is such that it is 



