HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 
38 
any account of his methods, she learned that they were car¬ 
ried out in a Chicago brewery. 
“Hansen said it would be necessary for one to come and 
work by his methods to understand his work. Many of his 
yeast-cultures have been living many years. He said that when 
he was an old man he would perhaps give into the hands of 
his successors culture-cells that were started years ago! He 
keeps alive these cells in solutions of sucrose. He has experi¬ 
mented widely in making different species of these organisms, 
and he hopes to work out experimentally the chapter of Darwin 
on the variation of species. 
“Hansen has promised to send me his publications. He 
gave us to drink some of his scientific beer.” 
Early in October, Miss Abbott left Copenhagen, taking “a 
remarkably shallow and long boat from Korsör to Kiel. On 
arriving in the dark of the early morning of the 5th, she and 
her maid went to the Hotel Germania, were “ shown into 
a large cold room where they shivered in beds covered with 
down pillows until eight,” when she despatched a note to Pro¬ 
fessor Ladenburg asking if he would receive her, and on re¬ 
ceiving his courteous reply, started out for his laboratory, the 
peculiarities of which she describes with the usual accompani¬ 
ment of illustrative drawings. Of this visit she says: — 
“His rooms are in the university, beautifully furnished, in¬ 
dicating a love of art and refinement. Ladenburg was charming 
in his manner, so courteous, and giving me the fullest informa¬ 
tion in regard to the apparatus. What a pleasure it would be 
to study under such a man, and in such conditions! But it is 
impossible since no lady can enter as a student within the uni¬ 
versity w^alls. 
“Ladenburg showed me his specimens of synthetically pre¬ 
pared coniin. He has obtained two, one which turns the plane 
of polarized light to the right, and this one, physiologically and 
in every way resembles coniin obtained from the plant. The 
one which turns the plane of polarized light to the left is not 
like the natural product. He has been many years obtaining 
this synthetical product. 
“ My visit to Ladenburg was wonderfully delightful. I should 
