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I am a very ordinary person with some rather remarkable acquaintances.
It is my purpose to give here some account of these men and women—for
they are of both sexes—and incidentally to describe some of the
remarkable discoveries they have made.
It was my good fortune to become well acquainted with several of these
personages—for they are remarkable enough to be so called—while I was a
student in a mid-western college for both sexes. Being a man of
sufficient means and a bachelor with a taste for scientific studies, I
have had leisure to attend many scientific conventions; and here I have
been able to make the acquaintance of many other persons of brain power
and industry sufficient to lead them to eminence. I flatter myself that
I have, by reason of an agreeable personality, obtained an unusual
knowledge of the work they have accomplished. I will admit that some of
these men and women have a very limited supply of polished manners, and
one or two are almost without any of the qualifications necessary in a
member of polite society.—But this will develop as the story progresses.
I first met Samuel Zahn as a fellow freshman. His was a most engaging
personality, for he is kind, witty and brainy. He took the lead in the
class from the first day in college and was the most popular member.
Needless to say he was at once chosen President of the class, and
President he remains to this day. He is over six feet tall, with large
limbs and a big head; since leaving college he has gained weight and
improved in appearance. I visited him at his home in a large western
city five years ago and we spent several days together, talking far into
the nights; and during this time he had much to say about various phases
of his work in biology, of which he is an enthusiastic student.
“Why is it Brown,” he enquired, “that all living beings must grow old
and die? This is true of all plants and all animals. There must be some
chemical reason for this universal fact.
“Before following out my line of reasoning, Brown, perhaps I should
first recall your attention to the method of scientific discovery. We
are accustomed, as you are aware, when traveling into new ground to form
first an hypothesis as an explanation of the facts known to us.
Beginning with this hypothesis, we first reason out the consequences
which must follow if the hypothesis should be the real explanation. We
then proceed to test these consequences by experiment. We then reason
out other necessary consequences of the hypothesis and proceed further
with our tests. If the results of our tests confirm the hypothesis it
presently becomes a theory and in course of time a law.
“I have formed a great many hypotheses to account for the ageing of
plants and animals, but under the test of experiment these have all
broken down one after another. Recently, however, it occurred to me that
perhaps the ageing might be due to the formation of resinous substances
in the tissues by the combination of two substances one contained in the
food the other in the tissues. You will remember that the insoluble
resin, bakelite, is formed by the union of an aldehyde and a phenol
under suitable temperature conditions. If, now, the aldehyde like body
formed part of the tissue, and the phenol were contained in the food and
passed unchanged into the circulation, we should have slow combination
and the formation of hard material—perhaps also material in the form of
fibers and therefore flexible—within the tissues, which would cause them
to harden and stiffen, inducing the other changes we ascribe to old age.
“If now these phenol bodies are contained in the plant and animal juices
constituting our foods they must be contained in those that are short
lived in largest amount, and it should be possible to bring on old age
much more rapidly by feeding short lived plants. For this purpose I used
first oat straw, but I found this did not produce the desired effect. On
further consideration it seemed unlikely that it should: for the ripe,
and therefore dead, straw would contain only the resin and neither
aldehyde nor phenol. I therefore used green oat straw and found that
this brought on old age rapidly when fed to dairy cows with no other
food. I then tried various additions to the green oat straw with the
object of finding some substance capable of uniting with and destroying
the phenol. This I have at last succeeded in finding; and I am now in
possession of a reagent which will so far destroy any of these phenols
contained in food, that old age is indefinitely arrested. This as you
will see places a dreadful responsibility in my hands. This is not the
Secret of Perpetual Youth exactly, for I cannot so far restore youth to
the aged—I can only arrest decay. By feeding this antidote to a baby it
may remain a baby forever. Or it may be allowed to reach any desired age
and then forced to cease developing indefinitely. I will confess to you
that I feel dismayed by this heavy responsibility. What do you think I
should do? What is my duty?”
“This is such an extraordinary story, Zahn,” I replied, “that I think,
in fairness, you should first give some proof that you are not in error
in thinking your discovery a real one; and since considerable time must
necessarily pass before any satisfactory demonstration of this kind can
be made perhaps we had better not further discuss the matter at
present.”
“Spoken with your usual clearheadedness,” he rejoined. “I must confess,
however to a certain amount of disappointment in your lack of faith in
accepting my conclusions.”
To this I made no rejoinder, thinking that the less the subject was
discussed the better.
He then informed me that he had invited two friends to lunch with us. “I
am much interested in them,” he said, “because I believe they are much
interested in each other. They are very interesting people, and I want
you to know them.”
Shortly before one they arrived. The man was approximately about fifty
years of age and rather above the medium height; he was well-built and
walked like a soldier. His hair was only slightly gray; his nose was
straight and well-formed. There was about him a certain air of
gentility, and his manner was pleasant and courteous. The lady was at
least twenty years younger. She was the most beautiful creature I had
ever met, and her manner was alert and full of charm. They came in
together, and there was no possibility of doubting their interest in
each other. But they were both so genuinely interested in their host and
in me that this mutual understanding seemed pleasant to both of us. He
was introduced as John Valient, a successful lawyer and she as Helen
Henderson.
At table we were waited on by Mrs. Frains, Sam’s housekeeper, a dear,
motherly old lady with white hair, kind eyes and a fair complexion. Sam
introduced her to us, and treated her as in every way an equal. Miss
Henderson sat at his right, Valient at his left and I opposite.
During the meal Sam informed us that he had recently given some
attention to nutrition and had come to the conclusion that condiments
played a much more important rôle than had hitherto been assigned to
them. He had studied these therefore with some attention and had
compounded one which he thought we would find very agreeable. He
proceeded to extract a bottle from a near by closet; from a medicine
dropper inserted through the cork he dropped a single drop upon our
fish.
“It is very strong,” he remarked, “and more than a single drop would be
too much. If you wish I will give a bottle of it to each one of you
provided you will promise to use a single drop at each meal until it is
all used. According to my calculations this will take a little over nine
years, for there are 500 cubic centimeters in the bottle and each cubic
centimeter is equal to twenty drops.”
After eating the fish, which was delicious, we readily promised and
received each a bottle. I may remark here that I became very fond of the
relish, and now, after the lapse of five years, the bottle is nearly
half full, thus showing how accurate were his calculations.
“I wish,” said Miss Henderson to Zahn, “that you would tell Mr. Brown
about your agricultural catalysts. I think this a very entertaining
story.”
“Why certainly,” he replied, “I shall be delighted.”
“You must know, Brown,” he said, addressing me, “that there are a large
number of chemical substances which are called catalysts. I can best
illustrate what this means by giving two examples. If potassium chlorate
be heated it melts and begins to give off bubbles of oxygen gas. If,
however, we first pulverize the chlorate and add to it a mere pinch of
very finely powdered manganese dioxid and mix the two very thoroughly
and then heat the mixture, oxygen will again come off but at so low a
temperature that the chlorate does not even melt, and much more rapidly.
“In the manufacture of ‘Crisco’ and other lard substitutes from liquid
oils by pumping hydrogen through the oil in closed vessels, so long as
only these two substances are present no combination takes place and the
pressure increases. But if a small amount of finely divided nickel be
added combination at once begins, the melting point of the oil rises and
the pressure falls.
“We once supposed that many chemical substances found in minute amount
in the ashes of plants were not of importance, but it has lately been
asserted that this is not true and that manganese in particular plays an
important part in plant economy, acting as a catalyst. I have verified
this fact and have proceeded to examine the action of different
manganese compounds in order to determine which is most active. The
acetate functions well, the hydrosol better but colloidal manganese is
by far the best. In any considerable amount this acts as a violent
poison but in homeopathic doses it functions as a vigorous stimulant.
Using this reagent as a hypodermic I have obtained astonishing results.
I have one stalk of Indian corn on my farm treated in this way which
measures forty feet in height and has seven ears, each over a foot long
and perfectly set, with grains well on toward ripeness. Watermelons the
size of hogsheads are readily produced and we have canteloupes,
cucumbers and tomatoes as large as nail kegs. I have used the kohl rabi
for several years as a source of winter forage for my cattle, slicing
them before feeding. Treated in this way heads as large as barrels are
readily grown, as much as forty tons per acre being an ordinary yield. I
have in consequence been able to quadruple the size of my herd without
devoting more acreage to the growing of forage. I have not entirely
succeeded in increasing the oat and wheat crop because of the
difficulties in the way of successful wholesale hypodermic injection. I
have made a somewhat promising beginning, however, by successfully
inoculating chrysanthemum with the aid of the aphis which preys on them.
You know that this aphis punctures the outer cuticle with his proboscis
and drinks the sap. Acting on this knowledge I have first sprayed the
aphis with a dilute colloidal manganese and dried them rapidly with a
current of warm air. The colloid adheres to the outside of their beaks
and gently stimulates. When the beak is inserted the plant at once is
inoculated. The aphis is then destroyed by the application of whale oil
soap or other appropriate insecticide and the plant develops to an
enormous size producing blossoms as large as a lady’s summer straw hat.
They are indeed marvelous.
“I have also begun some experiments upon animals but the effect here
seems to be even more poisonous. Another idea has, however, occurred to
me which gives promise of a very great success. You know that caffein is
a mild stimulant to the human race, and acting on this lead I have tried
a number of stimulants, winding up with virulent poisons. One of these
containing arsenic combined with strychnine, cocaine and selenium has
been injected into calves from my herd which are now, at six weeks, as
large as their mothers. Unfortunately this growth has been accompanied
by the development of a disagreeable odor which makes them unpleasant
neighbors. I fear I shall be forced to find a substitute for the
selenium in order to avoid this but I have no doubt of final success.”
During this recital any conversation had become impossible; in fact we
were reduced to a state of coma and walked from the table like
well-trained somnambulists without uttering a word.
In the evening I accompanied Zahn to a lecture he was to deliver before
the Society of Facultative Anaerobists. It appeared that these people
had associated themselves for the purpose of further studying those
organisms which develop either in an atmosphere of oxygen or of one
devoid of it. In the latter case they decompose some substance contained
in the solution and assimilate the oxygen it contains. The lecture was
to be delivered at the society headquarters over a grocery store. The
entrance was on a side street in the rear. There was a light over the
entrance and the hall was gained by mounting a steep pair of stairs. We
found the assembled anaerobists busily at work under the chairmanship of
a lanky individual in corduroy trousers. Upon our entrance the
proceedings were at once suspended to allow the lecture to proceed. Zahn
was escorted to the platform with much deference and began as follows:
“Fellow Truthseekers:—It is with some hesitation that I venture to
appear before you to make my small contribution to your proceedings. I
am well aware of the labors of some members of this illustrious society,
and feel considerable diffidence in appearing before you. I shall
confine my remarks to two themes: The first will be a contribution to
the technology of inoculation. I have had considerable experience of the
difficulty and danger of inoculating savage animals, and the first part
of my paper merely describes the technique which I have found successful
in such cases. I have here an inconspicuous gun which enables us to
effect inoculation at a distance and with ease and certainty. The
projectile consists of a hollow needle with two sheet metal flanges
surrounding it acting like a piston in the cylinder of the gun. The
inoculating liquid is sucked into the needle by its capillarity. On
inserting a metal sphere filled with liquefied carbon dioxid into this
cylinder and pressing this trigger, a needle penetrates the capsule,
liberates the carbon dioxid, which instantly is converted into gas and
drives the projectile from the gun. The needle has sufficient force to
penetrate the skin until the first of the flanges is reached. This
instantly stops it and the shock forces the liquid into the wound. The
outside of the needle should first be coated with an antiseptic to
prevent the entrance of skin bacteria.”
This contribution was greeted with great applause and the gun was seized
by a female with a black eye which she declared had been due to the hoof
of a mule—fortunately unshod. After the confusion had partly subsided
the chairman rapped for order and Zahn proceeded to read his second
paper:
“You are of course aware,” he began, “that during the world war the
supply of glycerin became insufficient and that it was discovered that
the addition of some sodium sulfite to a sugar solution which was seeded
with the yeast plant altered the direction of the fermentation and
caused the formation of large amounts of glycerin—sometimes as much as
30 per cent of the product. No careful study of the effect of this
addition upon the yeast plant itself seems to have been made. I have now
taken up this study and have reached some startling conclusions. Such
organisms so produced seem to have lost many of their original
characteristics. Ordinary _saccharomyces cerevisae_, for example, grown
under these abnormal conditions will no longer produce normal yeast
fermentation. The progeny of the original cells break, and we have the
same sort of variation that is ordinarily obtained in raising plants
from seed. By varying the nature of the disturbing substance; that is by
replacing the sodium sulfite by other reagents, I have succeeded in
producing still other modifications which have interesting properties
economically important.
“On this slide, which we will now project by the lantern, we have a
photograph of an organism capable of turning waste molasses into ethyl
chloride which is much used as a local anaesthetic and may be used
instead of ether. It is necessary to add sufficient salt to the solution
to supply the chlorin and the sodium remains behind as sodium carbonate
supplying that necessary product of the chemical industry at a price
defying competition.
“Here we have the photograph of another modified organism capable of
absorbing carbon dioxid from mixed gases containing it and building up
starch in sunlight much after the manner of chlorophyl in the plant. The
synthetic starch so produced differs in no particular from that found in
plants and is obtained in large amount very cheaply from the waste gases
given off by our stoves and furnaces. The supply of such material is
very large and the starchy food that in this way may become available
destroys at once all possibility of future famine and all necessity of
raising wheat, oats, barley, potatoes or other starchy foods. I hope
before long to be able to announce the discovery of other forms able to
produce albumen and other proteids directly from the atmospheric
nitrogen, so as to solve for all time the possibility of future
starvation.”
This paper was greeted by cheering and immense enthusiasm. The chairman
in proposing a vote of thanks said that the society had now amply
justified the hopes of its founders and that this would long be marked
as a red letter day in its history.
I walked home with Zahn tired with so many wonders. The next morning I
overslept and was late for my train so that there was no opportunity for
any further conversation. I have not seen my host since that time until
last week. I then made a singular and most distressing discovery.
I had noticed that most of my shirts were frayed at the wristbands. I
needed some new shirts and proceeded to select them. Judge my surprise
when I discovered that my old friend Zahn was waiting on me! I of course
accosted him by name, only to be met by a blank stare and a firm denial
of acquaintance. He assured me that his name was Smith and that he knew
no one by the name of Zahn. I asked for the proprietor of the store and
told him my story only to be greeted by an incredulous stare. The
proprietor assured me that Smith came to the store under that name with
fine recommendations from previous employers, and that they had no doubt
whatever that he was as represented. I can only suppose that Zahn had
lost his mind through overstudy and with it his memory. I have noticed
that neither I myself nor either of the other participants in that
famous lunch, now five years ago, appears a day older, and I am dreading
the exhaustion of my bottle and the slow onset of old age.
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