298 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XLIV. No. 1131 



of the fibers, certain of the fruits, and very 

 many other valuable commodities. In ad- 

 dition to all this, the animal industries, 

 which are the sources of milk, meat, 

 leather and wool, are dependent entirely 

 upon herbs. The dominance of such plants 

 in agriculture is shown by the fact that in 

 the United States they contribute 96 per 

 cent, of the value of the products of this 

 fundamental industry. Without herbs, 

 the feeding and clothing of our great 

 populations to-day would be quite impos- 

 sible, and though it is conceivable that with 

 the advance of science civilized man might 

 possibly dispense with woody plants, in the 

 absence of herbs he would perforce revert 

 almost to savagery again. Human society 

 is essentially an herbaceous product. 



Although a study of the evolution of 

 growth-habits may not provide much in- 

 formation as to the natural relationships of 

 the higher plants, as we remarked at the 

 outset, it does nevertheless introduce us to 

 a momentous chapter in the history of the 

 vegetable kingdom, for these lowly forms 

 have not only possessed the earth and de- 

 termined the character of many types of 

 animal life, but to their indispensable aid 

 man himself really owes his career as a 

 civilized being. Edmund W. Sinnott 



Connecticut Agricultural College 



CONTRIBUTIONS OF CHEMISTRY TO 



THE SCIENCE AND ART OF 



MEDICINE* 



At the last two meetings of this Society the 

 general sessions have been devoted chiefly to 

 symposia upon the contributions of the chem- 

 ist to the varied phases of our American indus- 

 trial development. Such emphasis is both 

 timely and well merited. But I am impressed 

 that this record of achievement should not be 



i Presented to the Division of Biological Chem- 

 istry of the American Chemical Society at the 

 spring meeting at Champaign, 111., April 17-21, 

 1916. 



closed without some consideration of the con- 

 tributions of chemistry to the science and use- 

 ful art of medicine. The opportunity seems 

 likewise propitious for some suggestions as to 

 means by which future contributions in this 

 direction may be increased in number and in 

 value. 



The science of medicine consists in the 

 knowledge of the normal processes of the 

 human body (physiology) and of the nature 

 and causes of abnormal deviations (pathology). 

 The art of medicine includes the prevention of 

 such deviations (hygiene), their identification 

 (diagnosis) and their correction or alleviation 

 by therapeutic or surgical treatment. For" its 

 present state of development each of these 

 branches owes much to the contributions of 

 chemistry. 



Since Lavoisier's demonstration of the iden- 

 tity of respiration with combustion the chem- 

 ist has gone step by step with the physiologist 

 in elucidating the normal operations of the 

 first internal combustion engine. Chemical 

 structure of inanimate carbohydrates, lipins 

 and proteins sheds reflected light upon the re- 

 actions and structure of living protoplasm. 

 Colloidal chemistry, catalysis and the laws of 

 chemical dynamics furnisb all that we know of 

 those servants of the cells, the enzymes. A 

 new constituent of the blood is recognized 

 to-day and to-morrow we have a new theory 

 of metabolism. . Thermochemistry is the 

 foundation of nutrition and dietetics. The 

 occultism of biogenesis, growth and the inter- 

 nal secretions is giving way before the calorim- 

 eter and the differential equation. In a 

 word, the whole datum of physiological chem- 

 istry is a contribution to physiology and hence 

 to the science of medicine; that much of it 

 yet lacks practical application is no discredit 

 to the contributor. 



So much yet remains to be done in the field 

 of chemical pathology that we are sometimes 

 inclined to disparage past achievements. But 

 these are not inconsiderable. In edema, con- 

 cretions, diabetes and other conditions of 

 acidosis, pathological variations in metabolism 

 in fever, and in numerous other directions sub- 

 stantial gains have been recorded. Uric acid 



