edited by ROGERR. FESTA School 01 Education, Box U-33 The University of Connecticut Storrs. CT 06268
Helen Abbott Michael: Pioneer in Plant Chemistry Ann Tracy Tarbell and D. Stanley Tarbell Vanderbilt University Nashville. TN 37235
Information about this attractive and gifted, yet littleknown, American woman scientist of the late nineteenth century comes in part from a memorial volume published in 1907 at the request of Michael's family ( I ) . I t contains a hiographical portion including material from her diaries (2); reorints of her scientific naners with a comnlimentarv introduction by Harvey W. wiley of the United states ~ e ~ a r t m e n t of Agriculture (3); and reprints of her literary papers (4). Helen Cecilia DeSilver Ahhott was horn in Philadelphia in 1857. the vouneest child of affluent narents James and ~ a r o l i n e~ b b o t c ~ f taecareful r educatibn a t home with private teachers, she studied piano there and abroad for six years, attaining a high level of performance. On a return trip from Europe in the early eighties, Ahbott brought with her Helmholtz's book on optics (5), picked u p at a bookstall in Paris, which roused her interest in physics and mathematics. An interest in zoology and anatomy next led her to "study medicine in order to get a broader education" at the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, hut injuries from a fall in her second year obliged her to withdraw, and she turned to private research. Philadelphia was then an active center for science with learned men in manv fields and an interested nublic suopurling numerous in4turioni and scientific swieties. Abbutt, yiitcd with beauty and wealth, endowed with sorial grares. high intelligenre, and the rapacity tor hard study and patient work. mmed in these cirelvs. Scientisk whoie friendship and counsel influenced her career were Edward D. Cope, noted paleontologist; Henry Trimble, chemist a t the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy; David G. Brinton, anthropologist and authority on the American Indian; Samuel P. Langley, astronomer, physicist, and pioneer in aviation; and Dr. Wiley. In 1883 the poisoning of several children who had eaten roots of wild oarsnio which contained the alkaloid coniine persuaded ~ b b o ttostudy t the chemical constitutions and life processes of plants. From 1884 to 1887 she worked under Professor Trimble, preparing nine papers in plant chemistry for public lectures to scientific societies and for publication (3). So impressed were the trustees by her studies on ocotilla (Fouqueria splendens) from which she isolated a "new wax" (6),that they not only invited Ahhott to lecture to the students (a first for a woman) but also expended the substantial sum of five thousand dollars to provide new research laboratories, specifically designating space in them for research by women. She followed laborious. standard methods (7) . . for successive extractions and tests of plant tissues, and, in general, did not isolate or identifv Dure com~ounds(8).In her best-known study, that of Y U & ~angustif& (9),kbbott reported findmg various oils, resins, and, in the roots, appreciable quantities of "saponin," which she estimated quantitatively. The world was astir a t that time with reflections on evolution following Charles Darwin's recent puhlication (1859) of "Origin of Species." In 1886 the French botanist Eduouard Heckel published a scheme of plant evolution hased upon floral morphology, and Ahbott followed this with a proposal that evolution might be traced in the chemistry of plant compounds (10). Her extended laboratory studies on the oc548
Journal of Chemical Education
currence of saponins and her intensive reading on what was then known of chemical constituents in particular plant families, led her to hypothesize that the manufacture of chemicals by plant tissues is an intimate response to internal functions and to structures of the plant; thus, plant chemistry might parallel morphology and form a basis for chemical classification of plants. Abbott first stated these ideas in a paper read to the Chemical Section of the Association for the Advancement of Science in Buffalo in 1886, and in early 1887 she reinforced this with two detailed lectures in Philadelphia and Washington (11, 12). These ideas were accepted as "original with her and attracting the attention of scientific men." Significantly, in 1963 modern authorities on chemical taxonomy (13) credited Abbott with the first expression of the idea of biochemical classification (14). They also noted that although Holger Erdtmann, a leading chemist in this field, did not quote her work (15), his idea that specialized secondary chemical components manufactured by the plant were more useful in taxonomy than common constituents (such as chlorophyll) was essentially that formulated by Abhott seventy years before (10,14). Other long papers on plant science and its economic applications that Abbott read before large audiences were excellent reviews of current knowledge and elaboration of her own ideas. A quotation from the Philadelphia Ledger indicates Abbott's popularity and impact: "The spectacle of a graceful young girl, surrounded by a battery of chemical appliances, and explaining, with the familiarity of an elderly savant, the valuable results of laboratory researches among plants. . . was interesting from more than one point of view." Not only did the Ledger find her prophecies of economic resources in plants novel and practical, but i t admired the "energy, command of resources, and the skilled industry of this young lady. . . she furnishes one more example of what a girl may do who wishes to fill her life with occupation formerly held to be only possible to the young man." In the summer of 1887 Abbott traveled abroad to investigate opportunities for continuing her studies. Her journal furnishes an absorbing record of social events (a brilliant reception for Henrik Ibsen in Stockholm), art and historical exhibits, and visits to women's industrial schools. Almost 40 scientists in England and on the continent received her warmly in universities, museums, and in their homes. Her descriptions of the lahoratories, facilities, and ideas of many famous nineteenth century chemists and botanists are of historical value today. Abhott found, to her surprise, that she needed no introduction to many scientific workers; her researches and ideas were well known in Europe. However, nearly everywhere she received the same advice from the scientists: go to Zurich, Switzerland, to study; only there are women students permitted to work along with men in the classrooms and lahoratories. In Zurich a t last, where "women students abounded," Ahbott was "overwhelmed a t the magnificence of the labo"Profiles in Chemistry" is a biographical feature, highlighting the comributi~nsof distinguished chemists in the context of Meir Ilves. The column is designed for curriculum enrichment, allowing the secondary school teacher to enhance the vitality of chemistry with the sense of scholarship and adventure shared by chemists throughout history.
ratories" and the encouragement for combining studies in chemistry and botany as an advanced student. T o her, the life of German women seemed unenviable, although she admired their patience in waiting for change. Europe's rich resources of libraries, chemical and botanical collections, laboratories, and museums impressed her deeply. That fall when she returned to America, she studied chemistry under Professor Arthur Michael of Tufts College, whom she married in June 1888. Following a trip around the world the Michaels made their home a t Bon Church, Isle of Wight, England. There Professor Michael equipped a lahoratory for organic chemistry and did extensive research with the aid of Mrs. Michael and several postdoctoral fellows. From Bon Church she published four good papers in organic chemistry (16).After four vears on the Isle of Wieht the Michaels returned to Boston and Tufts College. For a time Mrs. Michael remained active in chemistrv. .. hut later she drew away from science and entered Hoston's social and literary life; her homeon Beacon Hill hecnrne a center for discussions of art, science, philosophy, poetry, and religion. She sought to inculcate young acquaintances (especiallyyoung women) with her ideals of personal freedom, determination for hard work and study, and independence of thought. She was elected to many scientific societies, and as a member of various literary and women's organizations she wrote and presented critical papers on travel, drama, and poetry which revealed her keen mind, broad culture, desire for women's (4). freedom, and her flowine literarv and ~ o e t i stvle c Again medicine called her, &d ~ r s~.i c h a lreceived l her M.D. degree from Tufts in 1903. For a pitifully short time she practiced in the private, free hospital which she established, but a case of grippe, contracted from her ~atients.caused her death in 1904. Her many friends grieved at the sudden loss of
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this highly gifted, articulate, and charming woman. Though her accomplishments in chemistry were not great and her projects not always carried out, she demonstrated her exceptional abilities a t a time when opportunities for women were few in science, and her ideas in the field of plant chemistry remain significant today. Literature Cited 11 Wchael. H+hn .\linr! " S l ~ d . c $ tP~l~~ n t ~ n d O ~ y l V ~ ' h nd t . ~i..l-rn,, ~ l n lssprs." Rnlr9dr IVns l'atnbr,d;e Ma... 1907. > I lhle \ H., B ~ ~ q r d ~ ~ n ~ , . ~ l > k e t
