November 4, I920] 



NATURE 



tions in association with liergmann he prepared in 

 1918 the penla-("'-tliiJa"oyl^-<*erivaiivcs ot a- and 

 /i-glucose, and lound ihenj to be indistinguishable 

 from the principle of Chinese tannin excepting for 

 a slight dnierence in optical activity. 



Fischer is entitled to a high place amongst the 

 notable figures in chemical history associated with 

 problems arising from the structure of uric acid and 

 its derivatives. This work, begun in i»8i, when he 

 resolved caffeine into inethylcarbainide and dimethyl- 

 alloxan, reached its climax in 1898, when he derived 

 purine from uric acid by means of indirect de- 

 oxidation. It has now passed into the text-booUs, 

 and the classification of all such materials, many of 

 which are important products of animal and vege- 

 table metabolism, is based on his notation of 1S97. 



In view of their extent and the far-reaching bio- 

 chemical conclusions based upon them, the labours 

 of Fischer in the region of proteins make the same 

 appeal to the imagination and evoke the same delight 

 in craftsmanship as his activities amongst carbo- 

 hydrates. Recognising amino-acids as the building 

 materials of albuminoid molecules, he devised an un- 

 rivalled practical method for isolating them from the 

 complex mixtures which follow the hydrolytic dis- 

 ruption of the proteins. Accumulating a large number 

 of such units in their optically active forms, he pro- 

 ceeded to reassemble them as anhydrides, and thus 

 elaborated molecules which, although much simpler 

 than natural proteins, nevertheless approach them in 

 physical properties. These were called polypepfides, 

 and one of them, an octadecapeptide described in 

 1907, attained a molecular weight of 1213. The 

 experimental methods developed in the course of these 

 investigations are too complex for summary descrip- 

 tion, but they represent an extraordinary technical 

 feat, and establish a connecting link between labora- 

 tory svntheses and the peptones arising from incom- 

 plete disruption of protein molecules. The investiga- 

 tion is limited only by material considerations, for a 

 calculation made by Fischer in 1916 showed that the 

 octadecapeptide has 816 possible isomerides, whilst a 

 polypeptide involving thirty amino-acid molecules 

 differing widely, but not entirely, amonpst themselves 

 mav have isomerides reaching 1-28x10" in number. 



Throuphout these inquiries Fischer made frequent 

 and skilful use of enzymes, developing a technique 

 which will offer substantial guidance to later in- 

 vestigators of vital changes. In 1804, having 

 issembled a variefv of artificial carbohvdrates, he 

 tudifxl their behaviour towards difTerent families of 

 voast, dr.Twing the fundamental conclusion that the 

 fermentative enzyme is an asymmetric agent aftnrk- 

 Jng onlv those molecules of which the configuration 

 loos not dilTer too widely from that of rf-pl«fose. 

 Applvinc this principle to the natural and artificial 

 d-glurosides, he ranged these in two groups, the 

 a-'i-t'lucosides being hvdrolvsed bv maltase and In- 

 difTerent towards emulsin, the /9-rf-gIuroside« exhibit- 

 ing converse behaviour. The f-glurosides, (i-g'alacto- 

 sides, arabinosides, xvlosides, rhamnosides, and gluro- 

 heptosides were not affected by either enzyme, and the 

 fflucosidic relation of sucrose, maltose, and lactose 



was determined by similar means, it was the know- 

 ledge thus gained which led Fischer to represent 

 enzyme-action by the analogy of a lock-and-key, and 

 to conclude that disaccharides are fermented only as 

 a consequence of preliminary hydrolysis. Turning his 

 attention to secretions of animal origin (189O), he 

 studied the behaviour of carbohydrates and glucosides 

 towards a great variety of tissue extracts and juices, 

 but it was when these were applied by him, in asso- 

 ciation with Abderhalden {1903J, to the proteins and 

 polypeptides that the most fruitful results arose, from 

 which it followed very clearly that the synthetic poly- 

 peptides are susceptible to zyinolysis only when con- 

 structed of those amino-acids which occur in the 

 natural proteins themselves. 



Although the subjects to which Fischer mainly 

 devoted his attention were not related directly to 

 problems of manufacture, he quickly made contact 

 with the chemical industry, and many of the processes 

 in use at the Bayer, Hochst, and Bohringer factories 

 were based upon principles developed in his labora- 

 tory; the improvement which he efTected in the pro- 

 duction of diethylbarbituric acid led to this compound 

 becoming one of the most valuable hypnotics in 

 pharmacy under the name "veronal." Whilst 

 shunning publicity in its grosser forms, he played an 

 active part in the German chemical world, and the 

 reliance placed on his judgment by leaders of the 

 German chemical industry ultimately grew into an 

 attitude of trust which was quite exceptional. It was 

 this which enabled him to become instrumental in 

 establishing the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fiir Chemie, 

 a research foundation independent of teaching duties 

 inaugurated in 1912. \ pronounced individualist, he 

 trusted personalities more than organisations and 

 wisdom more than learning, his own kindling per- 

 sonality and clear wisdom being freely applied to the 

 furtherance of scientific method, both industrial and 

 academic. 



It is not difficult to imagine the demands which 

 were made upon him during the war period, the 

 five years which were destined to be his last. Iti a 

 directive capacity he was associated with many of 

 the commissions charged with solving chemical 

 problems connected with the great conflict, but it 

 was the food shortapo which engrossed his attention 

 most urgently. There is no doubt that these labours 

 and their fruitless issue preyed too heavily upon a 

 constitution undermined bv lifelong over-application 

 to exhnu'^tini? labour, and in view of the great ape 

 attained bv his father, who passed the ninety-fourth 

 year, his own demise was premature in every sense. 



Even when due allowance has been made for the 

 storehouse of accumulated facts upon which the 

 chemists of his era were eninowered to draw and for 

 the variety of technique which was at their com- 

 mand, it ran scarcely be claimed that in wealth of 

 revelation and mnnipulative skill Rmil Fischer is 

 eclipsed bv anv of his predecessors. It is difficult to 

 tmapine that he ran be surpassed bv anv of his suc- 

 cessors, hut whether this be so or not, his nrhieve- 

 ment will remain for all time a monument of industrv, a 

 masterpice of symmetry, and a gospel of inspiration. 



The Physics and Chemistry of Colloids and their Bearing on Industrial Questions. 



THli Faraday and Physical Societies held a joint 

 diaortiion on " The Physics and Chetnistry of 

 ('ollokis MmI their Bearing oii Industrial Questions " 

 on Ortoher a^ in the spacious lecture theatre of the 

 Institution o^ Mechanical Knjjinews. The societies 

 were extremely fortunate in having the subject intro- 

 duced by Prof, Theodor .Svcdberg, of the University of 



NO. 2662, VOL. 106] 



Upsala, who gave an excellent ri'^umi. mainly from 

 the physical point of view, of the present state of 

 knowledge of the subject of colloids on the theoretical 

 side. Prof. Svrdberfi's written contribution included 

 an excellent bibHocrraphy of the subjert, which will 

 be found most helpful to physlrftta and others who 

 wish to become acquaintea with modem theoretical 



