THE HUMAN BODY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 29 September 1927, Page 7

THE HUMAN BODY

A WALKING CHEMIST’S SHOP. SCIENTIST’S DECLARATION. Professor J. J. Abel, of Johns Hopkins University, has been awarded the William Gibbs medal of the American Chemical Society for having done more for human happiness, in the opinion of the society, than anv other American. “The human body is a walking chemist’s sh op,” declared the professor at the meetin- of the society, when he was formally presented with the medal. “Each body lots its own little pharmacy that makes the body go and each body contains an invisible ohv sician. “It is a beautiful, wonderful thing, but how long it has taken to discover that fact! Bio-chemists have only skimmed the surface of the chemical potentialities of the human body.” Professor Abel proceeded to recount the history of chemistry as it applies to the well-being of the human body.” He told of research work that brought about the discovery that the human body does contain drugs and chemicals—acids, salts, sugars and alkalis —in sufficient quantities to sustain life indefinitely provided the source of the drugs is not impaired. “The time has come.” he said, “for scientists to bend their energies 10 wards isolating the pure drugs in the body from the ductless elands themselves.' and to learn how to build up the drug from various essential chemicals until it is exactly the same as the gland secretion itself.” It is partly for his achievement in doing this with one of the body’s pure drugs—adrenalin—that Protestor Abel was given the honour of delivering the Gibbs address and of re ceiving the Gibbs medal.