Aaron J. Ihde

Conflict of concepts in early vitamin studies

The concept that foods must contain organic trace nutrients in addition to adequate amounts of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals was clearly enunciated in 1912 and became firmly established as part of a continuing tradition during the next decade. The notion that traces of specific organic materials are necessary for satisfactory nutrition had been put forth many times in the past, and in some cases, quite convincingly. But these tentative hypotheses generally failed to make a lasting impression on public health personnel, and they failed to dislodge the belief, widely held in the last half of the nineteenth century, that the gross constituents of foods, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and minerals would provide adequate nourishment for man and farm animals. As a consequence of studies at the Lister Institute, where he had been isolating fractions of rice polishings and yeast which were curative of polyneuritis in birds, Casimir Funk suggested in 1912,

The effect of soaps and detergents on the critical solution temperature of triethylamine and water

Abstract Soaps and detergents cause an elevation of the critical solution temperature of the system triethylamine-water. This is probably due to the greatly increased mutual solubilities of the liquids in the presence of the soap and detergent ions. Cationic detergents, anionic soaps and detergents, and mixtures of the two types produce changes of the critical solution temperature which may be explained by the principle that “like dissolves like.”

Dexter Award: Silver Anniversary

The Dexter Award, given in recognition of distinguished contributions to the history of chemistry, was presented for the twentyfifth time at the American Chemical Society meeting in New York City on 25 August 1981. The recipient was Cyril Stanley Smith, Emeritus Professor of Metallurgy at MIT, who was honored for his role in bringing about the translation of pioneering metallurgical treatises (Biringuccio, Ercker, Reaumur, Theophilus, and the Probierbiichlein) and for his metallurgical interpretation of production of ancient and medieval metallic artifacts. The award is sponsored by the Dexter Chemical Corporation and administered by the History of Chemistry Division of the ACS. Albert Zettlemoyer, president of the society, presented the award plaque to Dr. Smith; Sidney M. Edelstein, president of Dexter, presented the

Early American studies on respiration calorimetry.

1000 check that is a part of the award. The History Division gave special recognition to the passage of a quarter century of Dexter Awards by honoring Dr. Edelstein for initiating and supporting the award. Division Chairman D. Stanley Tarbell presented him with a Scroll of Appreciation; Robert P. Multhauf represented the Society for the History of Technology, which administers the Dexter Prize for important books in the history of technology; Arnold Thackray, Editor of Isis, represented the History of Science Society; O. Bertrand Ramsay, a past chairman of the History Division, presented a bound volume containing portraits and brief biographies of the twenty-five Dexter Award laureates; and Aaron Ihde read a letter to Dr. Edelstein from the Dexter Board of Directors an-

The Duveen Library

SummaryW. C. Atwater, student of American food materials, transplanted respiration calorimetry to the United States, following his experience with the subject in the German laboratories of Volt and Rubner. He began construction, in 1892 with the collaboration ofE. B. Rosa, of an instrument capable of accurate measurement of energy and material balances in a human being. This represents one of the first examples in America of the funding and construction of a large but sensitive scientific instrument and its operation by a team of skilled specialists.Atwaters group quickly established that the first law of thermodynamics was applicable to man. His associate,F. G. Benedict laid the foundations for application of respiration relationships to the understanding of basal metabolism in human beings both in health and disease.G. Lusk andE. F. Du Bois greatly extended the clinical aspects of calorimetry.Animal calorimetry had its origin in Lavoisiers laboratory, its resurgence withRegnault andReiset, and its major successes in Germany in the laboratories of Voit at Munich and Rubner in Marburg and Berlin. The vigorous development in America at the turn of the century was an extension of the studies in Germany. Every prominent member of the American school of calorimetrists was either educated with Voit or Rubner or in regular contact through correspondence and travel.

The Development of Modern Chemistry

The Duveen Library of alchemy and the history of chemistry is one of the most extensive single collections of its kind, comprising more than 3000 separate monographs printed over a period of some 475 years.