180  Helen  Abbott  Michael.  {AmAJp0rii;Srm' 
Having  dropped  her  medical  studies,  she  spent  sometime  in  1885 
and  1886  in  the  study  of  mathematics  and  the  modern  languages, 
looking  toward  admission  to  the  junior  class  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  with  the  ultimate  hope  of  attaining  a  Ph.D.  degree. 
However,  her  enthusiasm  for  plant  chemistry  did  not  abate ;  but 
with  the  exception  of  two  papers,  her  contributions  were  rather  of 
the  character  of  essays  or  lectures  than  of  reports  of  research. 
These  two  exceptions  are  the  one  "  On  Haematoxylin  in  the  Bark 
of  Saraca  Indica,"  and  "  On  the  Occurrence  of  Solid  Hydrocarbons 
in  Plants,"  both  of  which  are  the  result  of  work  under  the  guidance 
of  Professor  Trimble  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
Of  her  lectures  she  herself  records  the  following  in  her  diary : 
"  That  season  I  gave  two  lectures  before  the  Franklin  Institute,  and 
I  lectured  at  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  at  the  Philadel- 
phia College  of  Pharmacy  to  large  audiences.  In  the  Spring  of  '87, 
I  gave,  at  Washington,  one  of  the  Saturday  lectures  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Philosophical  and  Anthropological  and  Biological 
Societies,  in  the  United  States  National  Museum.  The  subject 
chosen  was  the  chemistry  of  the  higher  and  lower  plants,  and 
owing  to  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Wiley,  the  government  greenhouses 
were  placed  at  my  disposal,  and  a  living  exhibition  of  plants,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  illustrated  my  lecture.  Most  of  the 
Washington  science  coterie  were  present,  and  after  the  lecture  we 
met  at  an  informal  reception." 
The  subjects  of  her  lectures  are  :  (1)  "  Certain  Chemical  Constitu- 
ents of  Plants  Considered  in  Relation  to  their  Morphology;"  (2) 
"  Plant  Analysis  as  an  Applied  Science ;"  (3)  "  Plant  Chemistry,  as 
Illustrated  in  the  Production  of  Sugar  from  Sorghum;"  (4)  "The 
Chemical  Basis  of  Plant  Forms  ;"  (5)  "  Comparative  Chemistry  of 
Higher  and  Lower  Plants." 
The  summer  of  1887  finds  her  again  on  the  ocean,  in  search  this 
time  of  a  laboratory  in  which  to  pursue  her  phytochemical  studies. 
*'  The  magic  of  her  name,"  says  her  biographer,  "  was  an  open  sesame 
to  all  doors.  Her  researches  made  her  known  to  the  learned  world 
of  England  and  the  Continent." 
The  notes  taken  down,  as  she  went  from  place  to  place,  and  later 
copied  into  a  book,  are  possibly  the  most  interesting  part  of  the 
volume,1  since  she  was  not  content  to  see  the  laboratories  and  their 
1  Studies  in  Plant  and  Organic  Chemistry,  and  Literary  Papers. 
