THE PERKIN MEDAL ta
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Science vs. Starvation CARL S. MINER Miner Laboratories, Chicago,
Ill.
nation. When we realize t h a t on this country’s 1948 corn crop that means almost 700,000,000 bushels-sufficient corn to provide the caloric requirement ( a t 3000 calories per day) of approximately 60,000,000 people for 1 year-we must in justice admit that the possibilities of such developments for the alleviation of our doleful food prospects are very great. It is for the specialists in the crop produrtion field t o say what actually can be done in the way of yield improvement and ‘cthether or not i t can be obtained within the limits of our expected soil conditions, but certainly there is some basis for optimism in these figures.
E SEEM to have entered a n era of extreme pessimism regarding the future of the human race. Our democratic way of life is to be revised revolutionarily. Our lives are to be snuffed out to the last man by radioactive dust from multiple atom bomb explosions, and it is not really worth while to postpone t h a t catastrophe because we have so mistreated our soil t h a t the only alternative t o quick dissolution is slow starvation. The last of these listed forms of disaster appears to be somewhat better documented than the other two. Many of you undoubtedly have read Osborn’s “Our Plundered Planet” ( d ) , Vogt’s “Road to Survival” ( 6 ) , or both. Certainly there is nothing essentially cheerful about either one of them. With respect t o the specific theses presented so ably by these two authors, your speaker does not lay claim $0 any expert knowledge whatsoever, and has no intention of attempting t o controvert their depressing array of fact:, and figures. It seems worth while, hovever, t o list and summarize some of the scientific developments which may tend to postpone the famine or alleviate its severity. Let us start with what may appear at first to be a somewhat flippant dictum. We do not eat soil. The foods we eat arc composed in largest percentage of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. All these elements are available in what appear to be ample quantities from air and water. The additional essential food elements of the inorganic class do not seem likely to become exhausted at such a rate as to affect the starvation problem importantly. Probably the simplest and perha,ps least practical helpful hint from science is inherent in hydroponics which suggests t h a t under completely soilless conditions, foods can be produced of good quality so long as fertilizers, sun, and water are available. At present this procedure does not appear to be practical, and it is merely mentioned in order to have it in our list,
W
SCIENTIFIC AIDS TO FOOD PRODUCTION
The first great aid of science t o food production is in the development of methods for producing or selecting new strains of food plants. T o cite what is probably the most outstanding single instance of such a scientific achievement, we can call attention t o the introduction of hybrid corn which even now, though its use is by no means universal, has added 20’3&t o the corn crop of the
Marston Taylor Bogert, wearing the historic Perkin mauve tie, presents the medal to Carl S. M i n e r
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of evaluating the assistance Perhaps one of the ubeful t h a t science can offer to agriculture is to itemize the savings which can be made by applying available scientific techniques to the prevention of destruction or degradation of food crops during growth, after harvesting, and before utilization as food. The first technique that comes to mind in this connection is the use of insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, and herbicides for the control of plant pests. Enormous quantities of potential food materials are lost or rendered useless for food by the activities of plant pests, which, theoretically at least, might be controlled by the use of pesticides. The advance in the production of insecticides and fungicides has been especially rapid and important recently. It is primaiily during the past 20 years that chemists have shown ability t o synthesize valuable products of these classes. Prior t o that period the principal compounds of these types were based on natural plant material such as pyrethrum and rotenone and the inorganic tovicants such as lead, mercury, copper, fluorine, and aisenic. Especially during the recent scorc of years, a flood of synthetic insecticides has been pouring out of the laboratories and of these a considerable number have been widely and effectively used. One need only mention D D T to convince even the layman t h a t science has contributed importantly t o agiiculture in that case a t least, and t h e award of a Xobel Prize t o Dr. hlueller only emphasizes what was previously common knowledge. The list of nev- synthetic insecticides already includes benzene hepachloride, chlordan, the organic phosphates, the organic thiocl anates, and many others. One essential fact which has become clear as the result oi modern insecticidal research is that no panacea i s to be expected, but it has become increasingly apparent that we are justified in hoping that the combined efforts of the synthesists producing compounds tailored to destroy specific pests, and the entomologists studying the life procesr of the insects, \Till eventually
HE Perkin hIedal for 1949 \%aspresrilted to Carl Shellel Miner for his accomplishments in the general field of chemical research and, specifically, for his extended labors in connection with furfural chemistry, his consultation work, and his patents. The presentation was made before the assembled gathering of the AUSRICANCHEVICAL SOCIETY and the Society of Chemical Industry in New York on January 7. Miner mho has been called the “father of the furfural industry,” is the founder of the Miner Laboratories of Chicago, and the scientist who with his staff found that furfural could be obtained by a commercially practicable process from oat hulls. I n 1903 Miner graduated from the University of Chicago. He commenced graduate work in chemistry a t this time but his studies were interrupted when he accepted a position as assistant to the chief chemist of the Corn Products Company. I n 1906 he left this work and established the now well-known h h e r Laboratories. Approximately 30 years ago Miner and his colleagues were pursuing research on the improvement of the digestibility of oat hulls by treatment with acid. While engaged in this work they found that the hulls were made unpalatable to animals by the furfural produced. From this observation evolved the production of the widely used solvent for lubricating oil refining and for the purification of butadiene for war-time synthetic rubber, as well as a raw material for nylon. Miner not only directs the research at the laboratories but is also engaged in consulting work. As a consultant he has served on the research committee of a number of corporations and has been instrumental in the development of several important processes such as furfural manufacture and the preparation of 5 low cost
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result in the almost complete elimination of this extremely st‘rious source of food loss. What is true in respect to the value of synthetic inseeticides is also true u i t h respect to fungicides where the control of fungui infestations beginning with seed treatment and continuing with the life cycle of the plant has made and is making tremendous advances. Vogt writes that rats destroy $200,000,000 worth of Poodstuffs annually in the Cnited States. It probably is reasonable to assume that the destruction due to this pest is proportionately greater in other parts of the world where the rat population is less effectively controlled. This pest problem also has been attacked by the scientists and we are no longer dependent on red squill and the simple fluorides but have the tremendously effective ANTU [l-(l-naphthyl)-2-thiourea] as Tvell as 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate). Other pests that reduce food crop production by misuse of soil and of fertilizer ingredients are the weeds which, when they gron with crop plants, may lessen yields seriously. Probably the greatest advance that ever has been made in the production of heibicides is the development of 2,4-dichlorophenoxgacetic acid (2,4-D) which has proved t o be a most efficient and useful agent for this purpose. While probably not a major cause of crop reduction, weeds have importance becausr of their adverse effect on crop plants, and consequently the development of scientifically based herbicides present and potential cannot fail to lessen the damage done by weeds. Not only aie chemical herbicides available but weeds are now destroyed effectively by weed-burning machines developed in recent years. The s t a t e m h t has been made recently that less than one eighth of the total agricultural acreage of the United States receivrs any sort of chemical treatment against fungi, weeds, insects, or other pests. This fact indicates that the chances for improvrment along these lines are very great. It IS impossible to estimate accurately the proportion of our
riboflavin supplement from fermentation residues. His laborutories have developed corrosion inhibitors for glycerol antifreeze solutions, formulas for writing inks, gelatin-covered printer’s rollers, exploded vermiculite, and many improvements in beverages, and processes for the hydrogenation of carbohydrates, dehydration of vegetables, and quick-cooking of cereals. Professional and civic affairs have claimed much of Miner’s interest. He has been chairman of the Chicago A.C.R. Section, a member of the Chicago Chemists’ Club, arid a member of the board of directors of St. Luke’s Hospit,al in Chicago and of t,he Universal Oil Product>sCornpany.
1906 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 I
SIR \~’ILL1,4Jl H.
Perkin Medalists PERKIZ 1928 IRVIZG LASG~IUIH
J. B. F.HERRESWOQF
1929 E. C. SULLIVAN ARSO BEHR 1930 HERBERTH. D o w E . G. ACHESON 1931 ARTHUR D. XiITTLE M. HALL 1932 CHARLES F. BCRGESS CHARLES HERMAN OENSLAGER PRASCH 1933 G E O R G E JAMEB GAYLEY 1934 COLING. FINK J O H NW. HYATT 1935 GEORQE0. C U R X E,JR. , EDWARD WESTON 1936 WARRENK. LEWIS MIDGLEY,Jx. LEO E. BAEKELAND 1937 THOMAS ERKST TWITCHELL 1938 FRANK J. TONE J . ROSSI 1939 WALTERS. LAKDIS AUGUSTE F. G. C O T T R ~ L L 1940 CHARLES M. A. STIUE F. C H A N D L ~ H 1941 J O H NV. N. DORR CHARLES WILLIBR. WHITXEY 1942 MARTINH. ITTNER WILLIAMM. BURTOK 1943 ROBERTE. WILSOK A’fILTON c. WHITAKER 1944 GASTONF. DuRois FREDERICK M. BECKET 1945 ELMERK. BoLTon H U G HK. M O O R E 1946 FRAXCIS C. FRARY R. B. MOORE 1947 ROBERTR. WILLIAM^ JOHN E. T E E P L E 1948 CLARENCE W. BALKE 1949 CARL6. M I N E R
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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
3,500,000,000-bushel corn crop that will eventually be made unfit for human or even animal food by spoilage after harvesting, before or after marketing, and prior t o actual use as food. The Department of Agriculture reports that insects destroy stored grains to the value of $350,000,000 annually. FOOD STORAGE CONDITIONS
I recently had the opportunity of spending a half day with the manager of several thousand acres of farm land in the section of Illinois reputed to raise more corn than any area of the same size in the world. I accompanied this manager on a tour he was making t o inspect his cribs as a basis for planning to store as much as possible of the bumper crop. It was obvious that the crib capacity was inadequate, and that much of the corn must either go to the market a t once or be stored uncovered on the ground. If it is marketed immediately, much of i t must be kilndried before i t can with any degree of safety go into bin storage, and the artificial grain-drying capacity of the country is wholly inadequate for this purpose. If corn contains more than a certain maximum content of moisture, it cannot be stored in bins, the only really large-scale storage available for shelled corn, without undergoing heating. This heating can completely destroy its value for human use in a very short time. The heating occurs gradually, but if not checked-and checking it is very difficult once the action has started-the heating may proceed spontaneously and rapidly, to the point where there remains only a charred mass which is likely to be valuable merely for fuel. Various theories have been advanced in the past to explain this phenomenon but seemingly the controlling factor is the growth of microorganisms whose metabolic processes are exothermic; the result is that in the well-insulated mass of many bushels of corn, the temperature builds up to the thermal death point of the organism and seems t o proceed from there by chemical reaction, although the mechanism of such reaction is not well established. The work of investigators a t the University of Minnesota, and of other groups, seems to have provided strong substantiation for the theory that molds are the most important heat-producing agency in the heating of stored grains. Work on this problem of the control of heating in stored grain is proceeding actively, not only in the universities and experiment stations, but also in the research departments of the great cornusing industries. Numerous methods of control have been suggested. Some of these have shown encouraging results in practice and it does not seem brash t o prophesy that this problem will ultimately be successfully solved. The corn problem is a n especially impre3sive example of the importance of conditions of food storage, but it is obvious that the problem is even more exigent in the case of the many food products which have much poorer keeping qualities than corn. Even some products we think of as extremely stable can heat spontaneously to the point of being reduced to the fuel level. Recently in Illinois when a cement tank containing 100,000 bushels of soybeans was opened, it was found impossible t o get them to run out in the ordinary fashion. On investigation it was found t h a t heating had occurred and as a result, great sections of the mass of beans were just charred chunks completely worthless for any food or feed purpose. It may be astonishing to learn that the storage of the peanut crop is a n extremely serious problem and that especially severe losses occurred in stored peanuts during 1948. Among the vegetables and fruits, serious losses occur through improper handling after harvesting. iMany procedures are now used for preventing such losses. Fruits are coated with waxes and the like, either with or without fungicides. Drying is used, though new dehydration processes have not made much progress in the food industry. Cold storage has long been used effectively and now quick
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freezing is becoming an important factor in preserving the nutritive values in the more perishable types of food crops. Quick freezing seems destined to become one of the most valuable processes for food preservation. PLANT MATERIALS SUBSTITUTED FOR ANIMAL MATERIALS IN H U M A N DIET
It is worth while t o remember Armsby’s classical essay on the “High Cost of Roast Pork”-it was in the form of a paraphrase of Lamb’s “Dissertation on Roast Pig”-which set forth very cogently the fact that while Lamb’s hero burned down a house to roast a pig, we just as extravagantly feed 5 pounds of human food in the form of corn to produce 1 pound of pork. The argument is similar though not quantitatively the same, with respect to all the forms of animal food-milk, eggs, poultry, lamb, and beef. If we are really going to pull our belts in t o the last notch, we will radically reduce our intake of animal foods and increase our intake of cereals. Such a procedure entails the necessity of ,rebalancing our ration and perhaps of including new dietary essentials, such as the currently exciting animal protein factor, which occurs naturally in fish meal, and has been proved t o be a necessary addition to the feed of some of our livestock when their diets are low in animal protein. Whatever can be done t o utilize plant materials as direct substitutes for animal materials in the human diet is important in economizing our foodstuffs. Obviously the details of such a program must be worked out by experts in the science of nutrition; but a chemist may a t least suggest the value of an adequate solution of the problem. Any change which transfers a food material from the animal’s feed box t o the human table is a move in the right direction. Important among current developments t o this end is the use of ion exchange resins in the beet and cane sugar industries. It appears highly probable that as the result of the availability of these relatively new agents, cane and beet molasses in their present forms will be disappearing commodities. Theoretically, these resins can be used to treat the cane and beet juices t o remove the melassigenic factors as a n early step in the process, thus making it possible t o obtain all the sugars either in crystallized form or as sirups suitable for human consumption. On the other hand i t may prove more economical at least in some instances to follow the current sugar-making practices and then refine the molasses by ion exchange resins to a palatable sirup. I t is perhaps reasonable to assume that if a substantial amount of carbohydrate is thus removed from the animal diet by salvaging the sugars of blackstrap molasses for humans, this must be replaced in the animal ration from some other source. This can be accomplished by transforming some of the enormous quantities of wood waste to sugar by acid hydrolysis. A great deal of work has been done on this process beginning with experimentation with a German process about 1906. This process involved the use of sulfurous acid under pressure, but never was commercially successful. Later, about the time of World War I, Bergius developed a process in Germany in which concentrated hydrochloric acid was used as the hydrolytic agent, but for a number of reasons this process never came into general use. It is reported that, during World War 11, the Germans made sugars for animal feeding and for the production of food yeast by treating sawdust with sulfuric acid. A similar process was experimented with in this country during the same period under the auspices of the War Production Board, and with the active cooperation of the Forest Products Laboratory whose scientists supervised the pilot plant operations. Eventually a plant was built t o u t i l i ~ ethe process developed at the pilot plant. The plan was t o use the sugars so produced for the manufacture of alcohol, but they could have been used for animal feeding. So far as I a m aware the plant has never been
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operated sufficiently l o prove the commercial value of the process. Certainly such a plant offers promise of utility as a means of adding t o our food supply sugars for animal feed or yeast from these sugars and ammonia supply to increase the available protein. Incidentally, it Tvas amusing to hear from the head of one of the Swedish Goveinment’s research institutions that their experiments designed t o determine the utility of chemically treated straw as feed indicated that in that climate the straw was more valuable to the cattle in the form of insulation to keep the barn viarm than when used in the ration. Recent work a t the Korthern Regional Research Laboratory has developed a process on a pilot plant scale for transforming the pentosans of corncobs into furfural and its cellulose into sugar, whereas current furfural processes utilize only the pentosan portion. I n view of the 3.5 billion bushels of coin raised this year, the 14 pounds per bushel of cobs represent a n enormous supply of raw mateiial. At first thought it does not appear that the furfural which can be produced from these corncobs hab an) value as a n antistarvation item. Yet actually, in a roundabout way, it has. Within a very short time one of the largest uses of furfural nil1 be in the production of nylon. Nylon like other strictly synthetic fibers competes ~ i t hcotton and to whatever extent they replace cotton they relcase land from cotton growing and make it available for a food crop such as the soybean, which is a n excellent producer of both fat and protein and in addition needs substantially no nitrogenous fertilizer. FERTILIZER U T I L I Z A T I O N
Since we have come naturally to the subject of fertilizers, we should note that science has nom completely mastered t,he a r t of substituting ammonia and nit,rates made from air and hydrocarbons for the previously used natural nitrates and guano. 4 s a n example of the unexplored fields ahead of the science of fertilizer utilization, it is important to not,e t h a t in recent, years the practice of using necessary small amounts of seldom used fertilizer elements such as copper, manganese, and zinc is report,edto have increased the t’otalutilizable vegetable acreage in Palm Beach County, Fla., by 30,000 acres or over 60% of the previous vegetable acreage. This is a n indication of what niay result from scientific.use of those elements in the growing of food crops. A recent startling development in the use of nitrogenous fert,ilizer is the direct application of anhydrous ammonia t o the soil. The loss of ammonia to the air is said to be practically negligible and the fertilizing action extremely efficient,. So import,ant has this process become that farmers in the bIississippi cot,ton belt are reported t o be seriously considering the building of a $13,000,000 synthetic ammonia plant to supply their needs. But it is not only by feeding ammonia to the soil that ammonia can contribut,e t’o the fight t o maintain t,he level of our food supply. Scientists in %his country and abioad have shown that ammonia s a h or urea can be fed to ruminants in quantities equivalent to approximately one third of their normal protein rations, and the bacterial flora of the animals’ digestive systems is capable of transforming such nitrogen compounds into protein which the animal can use in the production of meat or milk. CONTRIBUTIONS O F M I C R O O R G A N I S M S T O A N T I S T A R V A T I O N ACTIVITIES
And there we come to the most exciting phase of this \Thole subject, the contribution which microorganism. can make to the antistarvation activities. This use of ammonia and its derivatives as a substitute for part of the protein requirements of farm animals is no longer a laboratory experiment. Kithin recent months the D u Pont Company has begun to offer t o the feed industry a urea product for use as a partial substitute for the ordinary plant proteins such
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as those of cottonseed meal, soybeans, and alfalfa and that company’s house organ reports in this connection that more thar: 2,000,000 tons of urea-containing feeds h a m already been fed t o farm animals. K h e n we realize that one of the serious m-orld shortages is of protein, that here is a potential substitute for one third of t h e protein non- fed to ruminants, and that in t,he last analysis it can be made from the constituents of air and water, the tremendous potentialities become apparent. Research along this line is in its infancy. There is reason to suppose that, for example, by selection of proper strains of microorganisms to be ingested along vc-ith the nonprotein nitrogen compounds, it may be possible t o make feasible the use of a still larger quantity of the animal’s protein requirements in this form or even to utilize such protein subst’itutes in the diet of domestic: animals other than ruminants. If t’his type of substitution is made in t’hc diet it wil be neccs-. sary t o introduce in some other form t’he other essential fact,ors that go into t’he animal’s diet as natural concomitants of the vegetable proteins for which t,hese sj-nt,hetic compounds will be substitut,ed. That gives us an opportunity to call attention to another function which the microbes can perform. They can produce vitamins from relatively low grade organic material supplemented perhaps by iuorganic nitrogen and ot,her inorganics. The most familiar example of the production of vitamins by microorganisms is probably the growing of yeast, and since this can be done without the use of human food materials it may become an important source of these vitamins needed for animals as well as of protein. Here is a less well known example of vitamin production by a microorganism. About 10 years ago a manufacturer of fermentation but,yl alcohol was faced with the necessity of disposing of residue from this fermentation by some means other than running it directly into a near-by river. Plans had been made and were about to be put into operation, for building a special sewage treatment plant a t a cost of %500,000. It was suggested t,hat some research should be directed to det,erniining t,he present and potent,ial constituents of the residue. As a result of that investigation it !vas found possible to produce from this heretofore useless material, 20 tons per day of a riboflavin-containing feed supplement which could be sold a t a very substantial price per ton and Tq-hich has found a large market as a substitute for liver meal and milk. The expense of that plant was not much over half Jvhat would have been spent’ for the activatcd sludge plant which vould merely have made the residue fit to run into the river. Very recent,ly there has been an announcement of the successful production of the animal protein factor, a vitamin or vita.niinlilcc compound necessary in connection iyith rations high in plant protein. It has been reported that this material will be offered to the feed industry in the near future and t,hat it is produced by 5 bacterial fermentation. The problem of keeping waste product,s out of streams is becoming increasingly exigent as one state authority aftel. another imposes more stringent controls and the recent federal enactment on this subject makes it evident that the day Lvhen this problem could be solved by the simple expedient of paying an occasional fine is past. One would not naturally expect this to result in a n increase in the food supply, but actually that is what frequently happens. For example, in the case of the wet corn milling industry, the “bottling up!! of the process r h i c h originally was undertaken on the insistence of the health authorities has resulted in the addition of several hundred thousands of pounds of high protein daily to the animal feed supply. Currently the paper industry is financing a full scale plant to determine the feasibility of utilizing the v a i t c liquors from their factories for the production of yeast for food or feed. These
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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
wastes constitute another potential source not only of protein Aut of other food factors as well. One recent publication t h a t has excited some interest in the food industry is the report in Science (1) of work a t the Western Regional Research Laboratory resulting in the successful growing of mushroom mycelium, having the edibility of whole mushrooms, in deep liquid culture in the laboratory. I n another recent issue of Science (4)it is reported that mutants of the common mushroom, Agaricus campestris, produced by treatment with uranium nitrate have greatly improved rates of growth. Here is another lead for those who would use science to fend off starvation. If a satisfactory culture medium can be produced from materials not normally used for human food, perhaps we have a new food source. A most unusual new development in the use of microorganisms has recently been reported (6). I n the laboratories of the Upjohn Company it has been found that a substance produced along with the antibiotic streptomycin has the ability t o protect growing plants against powdery mildew. Certainly here is a new use for microbes-the production of fungicides-and it may become increasingly important as the field is investigated further. O T H E R M E T H O D S O F I N C R E A S I N G F O O D SUPPLY
Perhaps the most astounding possibilities of increasing the food supply are involved in the various suggestions for the use of water instead of soil as a medium for food production. Hydroponics, which does not seem a too helpful subject for exploitation, was mentioned earlier. During the war and since, investigations have been made of the potentialities of the plankton, the microscopicorganismsof the sea, as food but without too encouraging results. However, the quantities are enormous and the study of methods of collection a n d purification is only in its infancy. T o one who had a firsthand experience with the so-called red tide in Florida-it was really yellow, not red-the possibilities of the minute organisms of the sea for both good and evil need not be argued. Those organisms were present in the infested water in unbelievable numbers and the infestation extended over many miles of sea coast. Their activities resulted in the destruction of thousands of tons of fish and other edible marine animals. It is easy to believe that if methods for culturing marine organisms useful for food could be developed, the possibilities are limitless. A more immediately feasible approach to the production of food by using water instead of soil is the growing of fish in ponds or lakes, the crop as has latterly been discovered, being vastly increased by the use of fertilizer materials of the types heretofore used to grow plants on soil. The fish crop is said t o be enormously increased by this means and the amount of labor involved in growing and harvesting this crop to be relatively small. One of the most startling of all these scientific aids to food production is the project at the University of California for the growing of algae under laboratory conditions. This indicates the possibility that here is a hitherto unsuspected source of human food. I n any event the possibilities suggested by the results of the early stages of the investigation are sufficient to justify great expectations. One item I have not discussed is the contribution which the nutritionists will unquestionably make by showing us how t o utilize in more efficient fashion the foods we have. As is usual, the first data on such questions are obtained by animal experiments and applied earliest in practical fashion to the feeding of farm animals, for already there is evidence that specific feed materials are more valuable to the animals in certain combinations than in other combinations.
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An interesting approach t o this problem is the work a t Johns Hopkins. An illuminating example is the recent report on the value of feeding galactose in combination with fat (5). This report presented experimental evidence showing the highly favorable effect on fat utilization resulting from the feeding t o rats of diets of galactose and f a t as compared with feeding either alone. Fat is one of the most important and expensive items in the human dietary, yet the losses of this valuable food constituent due to its becoming rancid either in cereals or other naturally occurring forms or in isolated fats such as butter, lard, or food oils, are tremendous. I n his efforts to prevent such losses, the scientist lately has made great strides by developing powerful and nontoxic antioxidants. Gum guaiac, nordihydroguaretic acid, known in the trade as NDGA, and propyl gallate have come into use, and antioxidants developed by a petroleum research organization have been found suitable and useful for the protection of food fats. Many efforts have been made to produce from petroleum hydrocarbons, fatty materials suitable for human food. During World War 11, the Germans succeeded in this attempt but confirmation of this on the basis of adequate nutritional evidence does not seem to be available. There is, however, one successful commercial development involving the production of a human foodstuff from petroleum. The Shell synthetic glycerol plant is now delivering glycerol in tank car lots to its customers. While the layman perhaps does not ordinarily think of this compound as a food, since i t has so many uses which are quantitatively more important, its food value is well known to the scientist. The manufacture of glycerol from petroleum might be considered by some as the production of a synthetic food, but since the petroleum is the result of biological processes it cannot be the basis of a truly synthetic foodstuff if we define such a food as one produced by a strictly laboratory process. We can say t h a t certain vitamins are made synthetically and while there may be some argument as to whether or not vitamins are really foods they are ’ a t least dietary essentials. The chemist today is not willing t o accept much in the way of limitations to his ability to synthesize, and eventually the synthetic foods of the “man in the street’s” dream may become realities, but today we offer no firm foundation for faith in such a n outcome. CONCLUSION
This subject of the contribution of science to the maintenance of adequate food supplies is extensive and not to be exhausted by any single speaker. There are many items, some of them possibly important, which have been left out of this discussion. It is hoped, however, that sufficient evidence has been offered to justify the conclusion that science can and will contribute importantly and effectively to the fight against starvation. LITERATURE CITED
(1) Humfeld, Harry, Science, 107,373(1948). (2) Osborn, Fairfield, “Our Plundered Planet,” Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1948. (3) Richter, C. P., Science, 108,449 (1948). (4) Stakman, E. C., Daly, J. M., Gattani, M. L., and Wahl, I., Ibid., 554 (1948).
(5) Time, L11,No. 21, 50 (1948). (6) Vogt, Wm., “Road t o Survival,” New York, Sloane Associates, 1948. RECEIVED February 8. 1949.
