OSCAR LOEW* RALPH E. OESPER,UNIlgRSITY
OP
CINCINNATI. CINCINNATI, OHIO
The chemists of the present generation are wont to regard Liebig and his school as mainly of historical interest, and consequently i t comes as somewhat of a shock to learn that one of his students, probably the last of that noble company, is not only still living but actually engaged in practicing his profession. Oscar h e w , now in his 87th year, studied with Liebig a t Munich in 1863, and a t his suggestion worked on the absorptive properties of various kinds of soils. At that time. Liebicc was acceptine practicallv no laboratory students and Loew was shown this special honor largely because his father, a pharmacist, had worked in Liebig's laboratory a t Giessen twenty-five years before. He had been so impressed with Liebig's powers as a teacher, that he could wish his son no greater happiness than the privilege of coming into contact with the great master. While still a child. Liebig's "Letters on Chemistry" was put into the boy's hands, and studied with diligence. All this was told to Liebig and, pressed a t this well-deserved flattery, he made one of the few exceptions to his fum resolve to have no more laboratory students. In a letter to the writer of this sketch, h e w stressed the veneration carried away by each of Liebig's students and, when in later years, h e w came to AmerOSCAR LOEW I N JULY, 1928 ica and met some of those who had been fortunate enough to have known Liebig, as Parke of the Parke, Davis and Company, and Horsford of Harvard, their conversation turned repeatedly to the influence the great master had excited upon them. Liebig's kindness to the youth was not misplaced for his future accomplishments fully justified the valuable time and care expended on him. Dr. Loew's scientific achievements have centered in the fields of physiological and biological chemistry. His doctorate thesis dealt with the formation of vegetable albumins and he believed that these materials were formed in the plant through the condensation of formaldehyde and am* This sketch has been adapted from A. Jacob. 2.engnu. Chem., 42,369 (1929).
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monia. Attacking the problem as to the origin of the formaldehyde, he succeeded in preparing this compound synthetically and thus laid the foundation of its preparation on a commercial scale. He was the first to recognize the antiseptic properties of formaldehyde and i t is characteristic of his mode of thought as a pure scientist that he made no effort to patent this discovery so important in medicine, seed disinfection, etc. Through condensation of formaldehyde in the presence of lime water, he was the first to prepare a synthetic sugar-like material, formose. This problem was later studied in extenso by Emil Fischer. The field of enzyme catalysis also engaged his attention. He discovered the enzyme, catalase, which decomposes hydrogen peroxide. This had a practical application in the dairy industry. Decades before the work of Buchner, Loew was convinced that the activity of yeasts was not a function of the living cell, but of the enzymes produced by the yeasts. I n conjunction with Emmerich, he discovered an enzyme, pyocyanase, which acts as a bacteriophage and has had some application in diphtheria. I n the field of agricultural chemistry, Loew is usually known for his work on the optimal relation of lime and magnesia as influencing plant development. This leads into the extremely complicated problem of soil chemistry and Loew was well aware of the multiple action of lime, which functions as a neutralizing agent, a plant nutrient, and as a coagulant. He is the real discoverer of the significance of the soil reaction. His interest in toxicology led to investigations relative to the stimulation of plant growth by small doses of poisons and other materials. A rather high proportion of his life was spent beyond the boundaries of his native Germany. From 1868 to 1871 he was active as a plant physiologist in New York. After a year in Munich, he returned to America and spent four years in a long scientific expedition to Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Southern California. Prom 1877 to 1893 he worked a t the Botan~cal Institute a t the University of Munich. I n 1893 he went to Tokio as professor and after five years came to Washington as an "expert in physiology" in the Department of Agriculture. Returning to Tokio in 1901, he spent six years in Japan and then went to Munich. In 1913 he was made head of the biochemical division of the Botanical Institute of the University. After losing all his property, he, who by ordinary standards, would have been counted an old man, again took part in a scientific expedition, and went to Brazil. I n 1926 he returned to Germany, and though more than 80, he again plunged into research. He now lives in Berlin, but he still retains his professorship in the University of Munich. From time to time, products of his pen and laboratory still appear, and if the future may be forecast from the present he bids fair to rival the record of Chevreul. He is the "last of the Mohicans," a link between the great past and the present, and we may well pause and do him honor for what he represents and is.
