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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 747 



in any other special field of technical chem- 

 istiy, and that a well-trained agricultural 

 chemist should have had fundamental 

 training in physiological botany, physics, 

 geology, mineralogy, general biology and 

 other sciences. This is obvious since the 

 investigator in agricultural chemistry is 

 likely at any moment to be in need of the 

 special knowledge which may be afforded 

 him through other sciences. He may even 

 find it desirable or necessary to associate 

 with himself a specially trained physical 

 chemist, bacteriologist or physiological bot- 

 anist in the solution of a problem which, 

 approached by a man trained only in any 

 one of those lines, would be as incapable of 

 solution as by him. If for such a cause 

 agricultural chemistry is to be called a 

 "bastard" science and should be elimi- 

 nated from the university these other sci- 

 ences deserve it equally. Instances are by 

 no means rare where subjects have been 

 studied from the view-point of a given sci- 

 ence and even indeed from that side which 

 would have been considered unquestionably 

 the easiest and most promising line of ap- 

 proach, and yet it has remained for some 

 other man approaching the subject from 

 the point of view afforded by a remotely 

 related science to reach the final solution 

 of the problem. These thoughts lead to 

 the question: Can we afford to lose the 

 view-point afforded by agricultural chem- 

 istry, and is not the fundamental fault with 

 it, if such fault exists, that its field has 

 grown to be too vnde? In other words, it 

 seems probable that not less, but more, agri- 

 cultural ehemistiy is needed in the univer- 

 sity and in more concentrated form. In 

 fact, a complaint was made to the writer 

 ten years ago by one of the leading think- 

 ers and workers in this line in Germany, 

 that the field was already so broad, the 

 demands so great, and the literature so 

 voluminous, that it was becoming a mis- 



taken policy in Germany to oblige a pro- 

 fessor to cover the whole subject. 



In fact, that department of agricultural 

 chemistry which deals with animal nutri- 

 tion offers by itself a sufficiently wide scope 

 in the special chemistry of the carbohy- 

 drates, fats, proteins, gums, resins, enzymes 

 and metabolism, involving as it does so 

 much of the field of the physiological chem- 

 ist. Presumably, from the position taken 

 by Thiel a study of nutrition from the 

 standpoint of the physiological chemist 

 would be considered sufficient to meet aU 

 the necessities of agriculture. It is never- 

 theless absurd and hopeless to expect the 

 physiological chemist, who approaches his 

 subject more from the view-point of medi- 

 cine or human hygiene, than of agriculture, 

 to pursue nutrition and metabolic studies 

 with ruminants and other farm animals, 

 excepting in so far as the special problem 

 is calculated to bear upon general prin- 

 ciples or upon certain features in their re- 

 lation to man. On the other hand, it can 

 hardly be expected that the agricultural 

 chemist will fail to concentrate his energies 

 upon the study of these problems very 

 largely in their relation to the nutrition of 

 farm animals. It is important that the 

 subject should be studied independently 

 even notwithstanding the close relationship 

 of the work and the fact that each at many 

 points may touch upon the field of the 

 other. That such close points of contact 

 exist is no suitable argument for discon- 

 tinuing the work of one or the other, but 

 on the contrary furnishes the strongest 

 reason for the support of each, since by 

 this contact each receives mutual assistance. 



There would also seem to be an ample 

 field for the specialized teacher in the line 

 of agricultural chemical technology, for 

 example in the manufacture of fertilizers, 

 sugar, wood pulp, alcohol, vinegar, beer, 

 wine and the vast number of other ma- 

 terials which might be enumerated. In 



