BIOCHEMISTRY OFFERED IN COLLEGES OTHER THAN UNIVERSITIES AND MEDICAL SCHOOLS BENJAMIN HARROW The City College, The College of the City of New York, New York City
FOR some years now a t City College we have been offeringtwo courses in biochemistry; the one is a term's work of an introductory kind; the second is of a more advanced nature and wholly quantitative, dealinglargelyin the laboratory, a t leas-with blood and urine analysis. The two courses are elective; open to students who have had general, qualitative and organic chemistry (for the introductory course) and quantitative analysis (for the advanced course). Biochemistry as offered in our college has a t no time been regarded as a premedical requirement. The subject has been viewed more in the light of Wieland's definition of it, as "the most important branch of organic chemistry." In this sense the subject assumes interest for any science student, irrespective of subsequent specialization. I have been interested in determining to what extent biochemistry is being offeredin the various undergradu-
ate colleges of the countxy. With this in view, I wrote to the secretaries of undergraduate "colleges with $2,000,000 endowment or o v e r n s o m e fifty-one institutions. To date, forty-three have replied. Of this number, twenty-three offer courses in biochemistry. They are Barnard, Beloit, Berea, Bowdoin, Brooklyn (New York), Bryn Mawr, City (New York), Cornell (Iowa), George Peabody, Goucher, Hunter (New York City), Knox, Lindenwood, Macdonald (Canada), Mt. Holyoke, Mt. St. Joseph, Oberlin, Rutgers (College Department), Simmons, Trinity, Tuskegee Institute, Webster, and WeUesley. Eight of these institutions not only offer courses in biochemistry but courses in food chemistry: Berea, George Peabody, Lindenwood, Mt. Holyoke, Simmons, Tuskegee Institute, Webster, and Wellesley. Finally, three offer a course in food chemistry only: Colorado, Hampton Institute, and Vassar. Biochemistry, obviously, is making headway in undergraduate colleges.
