NOVEMBEK 28, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



763 



ADDRESS BEFORE THE BIOLOGICAL DI- 

 VISION OF THE AMERICAN CHEM- 

 ICAL SOCIETY^ 



Gentlemen, I did not come to Rochester 

 with the intention of making a speech, but 

 find — I am sorry to say — that Professor 

 Chambers expects me to talk. He made the 

 request — or, shall I say, demand — as we came 

 into this room. I find that I am driven to 

 the usual refuge of those who have to speak 

 when they would rather be silent — that is, I 

 will take refuge in the history of my subject. 



This subject has, I think, some general in- 

 terest because originally no very definite dis- 

 tinction was made between biochemistry and 

 any other kind of chemistry. One of the first 

 real biochemists was Lavoisier, whom all 

 matter, whether living or dead, interested. He 

 performed the first calorimetric experiments. 

 He was the inventor of the ice calorimeter, 

 and showed that animal heat was the result of 

 oxidation. All the chemists of that genera- 

 tion and the immediately succeeding one did 

 biochemical work. I need only cite Liebig, 

 who is perhaps in some ways the greatest of 

 all biochemists. Unfortunately, about the 

 latter part of Liebig's life chemists lost inter- 

 est in biochemistry. This was due very largely 

 to the sudden and tremendous development of 

 organic chemistry, which was brought about by 

 the discoveries of men like Hofmann and 

 Kekule. It was so easy to make new synthetic 

 substances and thereby gain a sort of immor- 

 tality, even though the main result of putting 

 a chlorine atom here and a bromine atom 

 there was to fill up Beilstein. In consequence, 

 thoroughly trained chemists did not busy them- 

 selves with subjects that were really important 

 in the elucidation of that matter which is 

 found in living organisms, and which forms 

 the physiological basis of life. The scientists 

 in biology and medicine needed such informa- 

 tion. The chemists did not give it to them. 

 Consequently, physicians and physiologists 

 who were ill-equipped for chemical research 

 were forced to carry forward the work of bio- 

 chemistry. Though the net result of their 



1 Given by the chairman, Eochester, N. T., Sep- 

 tember 12, 1913. 



work made decidedly for progress, only too 

 often it created confusion and artificial diffi- 

 culties. Even the best biochemists of those 

 days make us wonder why they did not pursue 

 their chemical investigations as far as the 

 chemical methods of that day would permit. 

 The answer is, I think in many cases, that 

 they were not real chemists but physiologists 

 with a chemical veneer. Fortunately, this has 

 been changing during the past decade, largely 

 owing to the work of Emil Fischer. While we 

 recognize in him a master of chemical tech- 

 nique, we may be certain that in a measure, at 

 any rate, the preeminent position which he 

 occupies among the chemists of his time is 

 due to his clear conception of the really most 

 important work in organic chemistry along 

 biochemical lines. Fortunately, more and 

 more organic chemists are following in his 

 footsteps, and are devoting their attention to 

 substances^ which occur in living things. I 

 wish here to make a plea for more of this 

 sort of work in America. I believe that the 

 rewards and recognition for knowledge of 

 chemistry applied in biochemistry are great, 

 because the work of the biochemist will be ap- 

 plauded not merely by chemists, but also by 

 zoologists, botanists and physicians. A bio- 

 chemist has a wider audience because his work 

 presents a more general appeal than the work 

 of organic chemists upon such subjects as dye- 

 stuffs and the like. Further, I wish to point 

 out the value of instruction in allied subjects. 

 Not every organic chemist can successfully 

 attack all biochemical problems. Because his 

 organic chemistry, other experience in physiol- 

 ogy, and above all, experience in dealing with 

 substances which do not crystallize, are neces- 

 sary. In many cases it is difficult to conduct 

 biochemical research because the biochemist 

 must very frequently begin with the smears, 

 which the organic chemist consigns preferably 

 to the slop jar. While the things which will 

 not crystallize interest less the organic chem- 

 ist, they are the very classes of substances 

 with which the biochemist must deal. Great 

 care, great patience and a knowledge of col- 

 loids are required of the organic chemist who 

 wishes to work in biochemistry, but I feel 



