and liis w h d a kiiowledp, experienc,e, ruai sound pos;al. Ile hns the ;ability tn he .ioned critic i ~ n d sympnthetic d not cinly witli rtdviee bot. wit11 finmcid aid, or wit,h understanding s y m p thy. I t is not surprising that a large part of his time is taken up with cmsultili.im with students and et,llm~goes,past and present. o s with univessity :authorities, iior that lieis in corrstnnt clemand on inrlnrtnnt committees or :as n leildcr in locd and national affairs. But one cnnnr,l, know the whole man unless one has some in. sight in t,o his nonprofesrional interwls and hobbies. Society, except 11s it mems the informul contacts with tiis aasocintes in the Ixhoratory, holds no rrlhrre for him, but in his family hc is almost passionntely interested. His children have been the apple of Iris eye, and t,heir iritere md his have been unusunlly congenial. Both sori nnd daughter, :is well ihs son-ilk-law, are successful practicing iihysioisns; the son in addition is carrying on the trnditioii of notalile teaching tind research. Both have predis:qipe:m,
scntml hiin xihli gnandchikiwti iii KIWSP growth :aid devtilopmrii! JJP takes thc d c q & i o t w e ~ ~ l .In his hntibirs, :ih,thc I n m is clwrly revc&d, for none of them represent plm,,sure. Doctor Meglitz hns alir-nys heen ii lover of music, hut lie prefers playing the eello t,o attending rmmrts. His lrmr of twt leads him outdoors u,ith his camera instead of Irking him t o the museums. One of his chief interests lies in the wtrioiis spoits; his knrwlerige of the ~ m n w :~nd records of noted sttrletw snd p,irtieulrirly of the perfomnmxes of race horses is :amasing. But here, too, he pefers active participiiticxi, and his red love is the nrMe game of golf. This he tre& as an sxperimcnld science and Benefits grcntly thereby; he is keen to win but l m t h to take iLdviintttge of his opponent's misfortune; he may not drive as far as some, but his shots are ususlly aimed straight :at the p i n A scientifir playcr, $3 hard fighter but a fair opponent, IL atrnight shot--it is ditlindt ti, find il bctter chnrzacterisation than that.
R.I . HcaLEij,uo*;,n
AMERICAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES I'he Abbott La bora Lories
T
HE A l h t t I'd~rt,lo-
ries, in its forty years or existence, h a s a d winced ti, a n importnnt p s i lion in jiliarmneeutical ehmiirill mnnufacturing. In :vmmori with other surcessful mlerprises, it has Imd its vi tudes but has succootlcii and grc,sn hecause of the :alility, v i s i o n , and i n d u s t r y of il,s founder and his associiites m d successors. W. C . Ahbutt rw.8 born on it f a r m in V e r m o n t in 1857. W. C. Auuon hfter o b t a i n i n g his medied Founder and Kist president degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of Michiran in 1885 he etime to Chicago and soon enjuyed IL large prsctire. Beeonring interested in dkaloidd or active-principle ther:tl,y in preference to the use of gnlenieals nnd fluid extracts then generally employed, Doctor Abbott began t,he preparation of alkaloidul granules for his own patients. Soon he begm to supply them to other plry~ieisns. E A R L Y IILSTOHY
Speaking of tlbe early history of this business, Di,ctor AbI,oit, once said: "I went ahout the thing in B very niodest wxy, one helper al. a time, m d I remember well how puffed up with pride I w t ~ swhon my force had grown to five o r six good girls. Knowing what, I wirnted for myself, I made the best granules I could; and I beliew they m r e as good ids could thcn be made." I n n s h i r t time the bupiness grew so large that it vas moved into ii nearby house occupied in part by a private family. Soon the family was crowded out, and the house itself was enlarged hy frequent additions until it 1,ernmen rambling threestory huilding.
TBr e n t e r p r i s e x-as i n c o r p o r a t e d i o I900 as t h e Ablmtt Alk:r,loidal Compmy. I n 1901 n thrchgtory h r i c k b u i l d i n g w:ns erectrd. This was romldetely dastroyed I,y fire in November., 1906, h u t wis imrrrodintely replrieed hy :I fi,or-story h u i l d i n g wlrirh wiw occupied in March, 1906. In 1908 the old irirme hause w a s r e p l a c o d b y anot,trer fouri,tory b u i l d i n g of re&forced concrete con~truction. As the business in artiveprinciple grmriolesinemwed, the inanufaolure of other types of uroducts was undertaken. A biologic department began the production of 8 variety of bitc1,erins; x veterinary department was organized; effcrvescent saline products were developed; a new type of iodine preparation was presented; the extraction of many of the alkaloids and glucosides, formerly purchased, was bogun; the nucleus of a chemical research staff was formed; and the manufacture of phenoluulfonhtes, the company'n first organic synthet,ie work, was under!.%ken.
These developments had taken plwce prior to the war. The company W M no longer merely an alkaloidal house, so the name ~YNH rhanged in 1914 tu the Abbott Laboratories. During the war, A. S. Burdick became an inercnsirrg faotor in contmlling the destiny of t.he company. l~nllowingthe death of Doctor Abbott in 1921, after several years of failing health, Doctor Burdick became president. It wss a fortunate choice. In addition to his medical tmining, he has remarkable business iwumen and a keen appreriiltion of t h ? importance
