The Division of Agricultural audi Food Chemistry A Retrospect H . A . S e b u e t i e , U n i v e r s i t y o f W i s c o n s i n , M a d i s o n , Wis· EFORE: taking a retrospective view of B the activities of the Division of Agri cultural and Food Chemistry, it might be
ice; Sherman on the insoluble carbo hydrates of wheat and the composition of milk and cream with reference t o the helpful t o recall that t h e roots of t h e condition of t h e fat globules; Defren on AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY were laid the determination of reducing sugars; in t h e summer of 1874 b y some 70-odd Langworthy on the respiration calo chemists who met near Priestley's grave rimeter; Browne on the rancidity of butter in Northumberland, Pa., to take appro fat: GUI on linseed oil; Tolman, Chace, priate notice of the centenary of the dis and others on pineapple studies; and Mrs. covery of oxygen b y him. Lively opposi E. H. Richards on three decades of prog tion developed there t o the sugges ress in water analysis. tion that steps be taken t o bring together It was during the period beginning with the chemists of the country into an organ the winter meeting in 1904—the SOCIETY ized group, largely because of an appre for approximately the eighth time was hension t n a t there were not enough mem then meeting in joint session with Section bers of this profession in America t o sup C of the American Association for the port a society. However, because of the Advancement of Science—and ending unremitting efforts of C. F . Chandler, exactly four years later that the precursor organization was effected two yeara later. of the division came into existence. For it It should also be remembered that t h e was during this time that, following a general meetings of the SOCIETY are general session, as is the practice still, the numbered consecutively from the summer SOCIETY met in sections of which there of t h e year 1890 when, in convention a t were four. W. P . Mason of Rensselaer Newport, R . I., the "occasion an attrac Polytechnic Institute presided as chair tive one in its social as well as in its pro man over the meeting, before which were fessional aspect," it was reorganized. read papers on agricultural, sanitary, and I t is the latter date which provides the physiological chemistry. This grouping point of departure for this account. of fields of interest was continued for another meeting, after which the word If, in seeking a precursor of the division, "physiological" was dropped from the one expects to trace its beginnings to some section name. For the next three meet earlier unit pleasantly put to sleep by the ings no alterations in name were made, but inertia of i t s members, he would be un in 1907, when the SOCIETY met in Toronto, successful. N o t only its life history but the word "biological" was added. This, also the support given it by those inter apparently, was a temporary designation, ested in its activities, except for the single because for t h e next meeting t h e word instance in t h e writer's ken with respect "food" was substituted for the latter, and to the latter, has been the normal one as then, in 1908, the section name was short provided for by the laws of the SOCIETY. ened t o its present form, agricultural and Beginning with the Newport meeting food. Mason's successors t o the chair when some 40 members assembled to listen manship were J. H. Long, 1905; H . W. t o the presentation of 17 papers, a goodly Wiley, 1905; E . B . Vorhees, 1906; L . L. proportion of which would today quite Van Slyke, 1906; F . T. Shutt, 1907; W. appropriately find a place on the divi D. Bigelow, 1907; A. L. Winton, 1908; sion's program, and ending with the 31st and H. J. Wheeler, 1908. Titles of papers convention in Philadelphia in 1904, no for presentation were sent during these studied attempt was made t o segregate days either to the chairman of the section papers into similar fields of interest. or t o the secretary of the SOCIETY, and the But among the relatively small number presiding officer was usually invited to of papers read, as measured b y presentaddress the SOCIETY in general meeting on day records, topics of agricultural and food some pertinent to his field of activity. interest were never missing. One can As antopic example of what was fashionable, even find reflected in them the interest chemically speaking, in titles for public aroused throughout the country in the addresses 30 years ago, Wiley, Van attempts then being made to have Con Slyke, and Wheeler found in agricultural gress give t h e Nation its first pure food chemistry a theme for discussion. The and drugs act. For example, w e find first animadverted on some of its impor Edgar F. Smith in his address as President tant problems, the second spoke o n its of t h e SOCIETY (1895) distinguishing be relation t o research, and the third looked tween the chemistry of agriculture and the into its future. Similarly, Bigelow and chemistry of foods and their adulteration; Winton centered their respective lectures H. W . Wiley, both before and after his around official duties, the former discuss presidency (1893), discussing methods for ing the role of chemistry in government the analysis of carbohydrate foods; Winservice, the latter official inspection of ton describing a technique for the detec commodities. tion of coal-tar dyes; Parsons outlining a simple test for distinguishing oleomarga It is literally true that the life of the rine from butter; others proposing a division began at 40, for at this so-num calorimetric method for detecting adulter bered meeting of the SOCIETY in Detroit ants in butter and lard; and still others in 1909, the largest summer meeting t o explaining how beef fat may be detected date with an enrollment of 320 members in lard with the aid of the microscope. and guests, its first program was pre sented. On December 30, 1908, H . J. It was also during this period tnat the Wheeler of the Rhode Island Agricultural names of others, w h o either then were making or later were t o make chemical · Experiment Station, as chairman of a com mittee of 10 of the Agricultural and Food news, appeared on the SOCIETY'S pro Section, presented to the Council, meeting grams with titles appropriate to this review. then in Baltimore, a request for the There come t o mind Leeds on the chemical formation of a Division of Agricultural and and physical changes attendant upon the Food Chemistry. Authorization having sterilization of milk; Bigelow on the color been granted his committee to form such a of red wine; Kebler on the estimation of division, organization was effected next vegetable alkaloids; Kennicott on impure 61
day with t h e election o f officers for the ensuing year^ Elected were W. D . Bige low, chairman; C. A. Browne, vice chair man· W. R . D. Penniman, secretary; F. K. Cameron, H. A. Huston, Paul Rudnick, and Β. Ε. Curry, members of t h e executive coanmittee. Incidentally, t h e year 1908 WELS one marked by the organi zation of divisions. Led by the Division of Industrial Chemists and Chemical Engineers, winch was authorized during the summer meeting, others to come into existence in December were Fertilizer Chemistry amd Physical and Inorganic Chemistry. During the uninterrupted course of the succeeding 58 meetings which the division, as now organized, has held, it has been headed by I S other individuals and 11 others have sserved it in the capacity of secretary. Tliose who have guided t h e division durimg this time are the following chairmen: W_ D. Bigelow, 1909; C . D . Woods, 1910; H. E . Barnard, 1911-13; Floyd W. Rohison, 1914-15; L. M . Tol man, 1916; T \ J. Bryan, 1917-18; W. D . Richardson, 1S19; C . E. Coates, 1920-21; T. J. Bryan, 1922; H. A. Noyes, 1923; C. H. Bailey, 1924-25; E. F. Kohman, 1926-27; F. C Blanck, 1928-29; R. C. Roark, 1930; J. S. McHargue, 1931; H. A. Schuetfce, 1932-33; D . K. Tressler, 1934-35; J. H . Nair, 1936; H. R. KraybUl, 1937-38. It appears that this honor has been oftener bestowed upon those in academic life (included i n this classification are uni versity professors and members of agri cultural expeE-imenfc station staffs) than upon those in. other fields of professional activity. T h e chemist i n federal service is next in line- He is closely followed b y those in privaite employ. The records from which this information was obtained are n o t complete with re spect t o the office o f vice chairman. T h e incomplete list; of those who have held this office is: C. A. Browne, 1909: G. E . Colby, 1910; A.L.Winton, 1911; F l o y d W . Robison, 1912-13; H . A. Harcourt, 1914; R. H. Carr, 1923; E . F. Kohman, 1924-25; J. S. McHarguie, 1926; F. C . Blanck. 1927; R. C. Roark, 1928-29; J . S. McHargue, 1930; H. A. S«huette, 1931; H. R. Kraybill, 1932-34; J. H . Nair, 1935; C . H . Bailey, 1936; 3t. C. Newton, 1937-38. The custodians o f the funds, records, communicatioms, etc., of the division have been the foilo-wing secretaries: W . B . D . Penniman, 19Q9; B . E. Curry, 1910-11; Glen F . Masoo, 1912-17; F. T. Flanders, 1918; T. J. Bxyan, 1919-21; C. S. Brinton, 1922-28; H. A . Schuette, 1928-30; J. H. Nair, 3931-34; H . R. Kraybill, 1935-36; G. AL. Fitzgerald, 1937-38. The list of tEaoso w h o have served on the executive comEiiittees of t h e past are, un fortunately, also far from complete. The varied nature o f the activities of those for whom the record is extant is revealed by such connections as state chemists, public welfare workea-s, agricultural experiment station d i r e c t o r directors of research and chief chemists of private industries, numerous ehenaists o n experiment station staffs or in government laboratories, representatives of numerous food indus tries a n d trade association laboratories, college and raniversity professors, etc. Among this group are: W. M. Allen, H . S. Bailey, T. J. Bryan, Ruth Buchanan, F.
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
62
K. Cameron, R. H. Carr, W. V. Cruess, B. E. Curry, R. A. Dutcher, M . S. Fine, G. S. Fraps, Chas. N . Frey, G. E . Holm, H. A. Huston, Glen F. Mason, A. V. H. Mory, J. W . Read, Floyd W. Robison, Paul Rudnick, J. P. Street, L. M. Tolman, J. H. Toulouse, H . W. Wiley, C. P. Wilson, C. D. Woods, H. F. Zoller, and all who have served as chairmen from the year 1924 t o the present. One element in the secret of the success ful life of the division and a potent factor in maintaining an interest in its programs has been the symposium. First tried at the Pittsburgh meeting of 1922, when the subject under discussion was that of edible oils and fats, the division has since spon sored alone or in cooperation with other groups some 43 symposia on topics which range almost alphabetically from bread and brewing to vitamins and wine. Insec ticides, as typifying a ceaseless war against a second claimant for man's food supply, six times as a symposium has had the division's exclusive sponsorship; vitamins, as reflecting man's interest in the newer knowledge of nutrition, have been up for critical discussion on eight occasions, at times in joint session with the Division of Biological Chemistry only; at other times with the latter and the Medicinal Chemis try Division. A record of the symposia in question follows:
the Detroit meeting (1927) with the view of consolidating the division with the Biological Chemistry Division. A com mittee which was requested to confer with the officers of both divisions on the ad visability of effecting such a coalition re ported adversely at the next meeting. Although it was conceded that papers have frequently appeared on the programs of each of these divisions which might, with equal propriety, belong to the other, it was deemed to be in the best interests of these two groups if they were to continue separate existence. I t was felt, also, that the field of work covered by the division is too wide to be of sustaining interest to those members who are interested solely in biological chemistry. A special effort was made then to re organize the division, the pages of the N E W S EDITION were used in issuing a call for active sustaining members, dues 'were collected and turned back in the form of mimeographed abstracts, and life began anew. An excellent symposium of 42 papers on insecticides, organized and pre sided over by R. C. Roark at the St. Louis meeting (1928), was the answer to the challenge of the further existence of the division. It appears to have been riding the crest of the waves ever since, and bids fair to do so in spite of the fact that some college and university departments of
S y m p o s i a Presented before the Division of Agricultural a n d Food Chemistry Alone o r in Cooperation w i t h Other Divisions COOPERATING DIVISION
YEAR
SUBJECT
Pittsburgh New Haven Milwaukee
1922 1923 1923
Washington Ithaca Los Angeles
1924 1924 1925
Tulsa Richmond
1926 1927
St. Louie Swampsoott Minneapolis
1928 1928 1929
Atlanta New Orleans
1930 1932
Washington Chicago
1933 1933
St. Petersburg
1934
Cleveland New York
1934 1935
San Francisco
1935
Edible Oils and Fats Insecticides Bread Soils, Fertilizers, and Crops Insecticides and Fungicides Soils. Fertilizers, and Crops Chemistry and Plant Life Insecticides and Fungicides Pectin Cotton and Its Products and Vegetable Oils Plant Chemistry and Its Relation to the Com position and Nutritive Value of Foods Insecticides and Fungicides Chemistry and the Food Industries Flour ana Bread Production Dairy Chemistry Insecticides Some Aspects of the Problem of the Preserva tion of Foods Insecticides A Century of Progress in Agricultural and Food Chemistry Naval Stores Ci true Fruits Enzymes Vitamins Brewing Starch Elements Required in Small Amounts in Animal Nutrition Vitamins Chemistry and Technology of Wine Vitamins Chemistry and Technology of Soybeans Meat and Meat Products
MEETING
Kansas City
1936
Pittsburgh Chapel Hill
1936 1937
Rochester
1937
Dallas
1938
Milwaukee
1938
Food Processing and Preservation Vitamins Flavors in Foods and Food Products Vitamin Β Complex Chemistry and Metabolism of Fats Vitamins Are Patents on Medicinal Discoveries and on Foods in the Public Interest? Vitamine Nutritive Value of Feeds for Domestic Animals Industrial Utilization of Agricultural Products Vitamins American Patent Practice and Procedure
Biological Industrial and Engineering Fertilizer
of some 17. Our source material has been the printed proceedings and programs of the SOCIETY from the year 1890 t o the present. In addition, are the writer's contacts which began some 11 years ago when it appeared that the nadir of interest in the division had been reached. If there are some lacunae in this account, will not some kindred spirit help the writer plug any such gaps which may now exist in this retrospect? Contest of Scientific Makers
Apparatus
HE First Instrumentation Contest, T sponsored by the Industrial Instru ments Section of the Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, which closed Novem ber 15, 1938, has awarded prizes as fol lows: First prize of $200 to F. K. Vial, Association of Manufacturers of Chilled Car Wheels, "Automatic Carbon Dioxide Compensator for Cupola Control"; second prize of S100 t o R. K. Hellman, Trans atlantic Research, Inc., "An Audio-Fre quency Spectrometer"; third prize of $50 to Wilton E. Stackhouse, United Gas Im provement Co., "A Hydrogen Sulfide Recorder": fourth prizes of $25 to George B. Bailey, Thermal Engineering Co., H. A. Kleinman, United Power Manufacturing Co., M. G. Mastin, Westvaco Chlorine Products Corp., and Walter E. Smith, C. Brewer and Co., Ltd.; fifth prizes of $10 to Sherman Chase, Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corp., Harry C. Gray, Wright Aero nautical Corp., G. J. Gross, Pennsylvania Water and Power Co., Wm. B. Hess, Safe Harbor Water Power Corp., and Charles Wasserman, Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and Power Co.
Fertilizer Biological Sugar Biological, Cellulose, In dustrial and Engineering Biological
Biological
Industrial Biological Biological Biological. Industrial Colloid Biological,
and Engineering Medicinal and Engineering Medicinal
Biological, Medicinal Industrial and Engineering Biological, Medicinal Cellulose Industrial and Engineering, Biological, Medicinal Biological Biological, Medicinal Biological, Biological, Biological, Biological,
Medicinal Medicinal Medicinal Medicinal
Biological, Medicinal Biological Biological, Industrial Engineering Biological, Medicinal Biological, Medicinal
and
— This division, like several others, has found the circulation of abstracts of papers among its sustaining members in advance of the meeting a helpful stimulus to the maintenance of interest in its programs. T h e practice was born of necessity because for a brief period some 10 years ago it appeared that the division had about reached the end of its existence on account of lack of interest. Action was taken at
VOL. 17. N O . 2
agricultural chemistry, to meet whose needs it was organized three decades ago, have seen fit t o change their names to that of biochemistry. And so ends this retrospect in which we have attempted to look back over a span of some 48 years upon the activities of a division that shares honors with three others in comprising the original quartet which grew in time into the present family
Public Hearing o n Certification of Ceal-Tar Colors HEARING is to be held February 6, A 1939, on proposed regulations for the certification of coal-tar colors under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This newly enacted statute, which be comes effective June 25, 1939, prohibits the use of coal-tar colors in foods, drugs, and cosmetics unless the colors have been certified by the Department of Agricul ture as harmless and suitable for use. Listed in the proposed regulations are 132 coal-tar colors on which interested persons may submit testimony concerning harmlessness and suitability for use. Those who are unable to attend the hear ing are invited to submit their testimony in affidavit form. The list includes the 15 colors which have been certified for food use under the old Food and Drugs Act of 1906. As investigations now under way are completed it is expected that additional colors will be proposed for listing. A number of colors investigated were not included in the list because toxicological studies indicated, that they are not harmless or because suitable methods of chemical analysis were not available. Harvey Firestone Bridge
Memorial
HE Harvey Samuel Firestone Memorial T Bridge in South Akron, Ohio, was formally opened December 20, the 70th anniversary of Mr. Firestone's birth. At a Chamber of Commerce banquet following the ceremonies of dedication, civic and industrial leaders and statesmen joined in eulogizing the founder of the Firestone organization.
