Mikhail Tswett -- The Inventor of ChromatographyAuthor(s): L. ZechmeisterSource: Isis, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Jan., 1946), pp. 108-109Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/225873 .

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io8 M. F. Ashley Montagu

copy of which was kindly made for me by the emi- nent antiquarian, my good friend, Mr. W. H. R. QUARRELL. From this copy the drawing was made which appears in my book as figure i. It now appears that instead of the shield of arms being surmounted by a sinister cubit arm in armor or, erect, the hand proper defended by an antique shield which it holds, lined vert. edged gold, with straps gu, the shield of arms is simply surmounted by a gentleman's helmet.

5. The Identification of Cochineal In my book I credited TYSON with being the first

to demonstrate the nature of cochineal by publishing three figures of the "Cochineel Fly." 12 I am in- debted to Professor F. J. COLE for calling my atten- tion to the fact that TYSON'S figures represent one of

"Op. Cit., p. 184, fig. 25.

the Coccinellid predators of the cochineal insect and not the insect itself. Evidently someone had sent the predator, probably Chilocorus cacti,13 to England in the belief that it was the host, Coccus cacti, and so TYSON figured it for what it was said to be, the "Cochineel Fly." Beyond that he did not commit himself. Thus proving more cautious than his biog- rapher. It did not occur to me that TYSON's figures could represent anything other than what they were said to be, and I most incautiously failed to check them with an expert. TYSON was robbed of the hon- our of being the first to publish a figure of the cochineal insect by someone who was probably as poor a coleopterist as I am.

1 I am obliged for the identification to Mr. HERBERT F. SCHWARZ, Curator of the Department of Insects and Spiders, American Museum of Natural History, New York.

MIKHAIL TSWETT - THE INVENTOR OF CHROMATOGRAPHY

By L. ZECHMEISTER

ONE of the characteristics of modern organic chem- istry is the tendency to avoid drastic procedures and to apply rapidly working mild methods which do not alter, either chemically or stereochemically, the molecules formed in the living cell. The increasing application of physical methods with highly differen- tiating power has resulted in recognizing chemical heterogeneity in many natural or synthetic products which had been described earlier as homogeneous compounds.

In this significant development which opens up new possibilities both in physical and biological di- rections, a major part is being played by chroma- tography as invented by TSWETT. If a liquid con- taining several solutes is filtered through a vertical column of a suitable adsorbent, the individual com- pounds will be deposited in separate layers in the sequence of decreasing adsorption affinity from top to bottom. After the extrusion of the column from the glass tube, the separation, which would have involved lengthy and inefficient operations, is carried out by cutting the cylinder with a knife. These simple but effective procedures can be applied nearly unlimitedly in the most different branches of chem- istry, both organic and inorganic.

While we now witness the triumph of TSWETT'S principle, nearly nothing is generally known about the personality and life of this pioneer. Indeed, it had to be said in the Foreword of a monograph on

chromatography that it was impossible to collect trustworthy biographic data about TSWErr'S life.

It is fortunate that recently an extensive paper written by Professor DHE'RE appeared in a Geneva periodical, entitled, "Michel Tswett, Le Createur de l'Analyse Chromatographique par Adsorption. Sa Vie, ses Travaux sur les Pigments Chlorophyl- liens." From this paper 1 which was based in part on a short biographic note published by BRIQUET,2 the following data are extracted.

A collection of some letters written by TSWErr between 1896 and 1917 is deposited with the Con- servatoire de Botanique in Geneva (Switzerland).

MIKHAIL (MICHAEL) TSWETT was born in Asti (Italy) on May I 9, I 8 72 of a Russian father, SIMEON TSWETT, and an Italian mother, the former MARIA DOROZZA; he was a Russian subject. He completed his studies at the lycee in Lausanne and then in Geneva (I889-I891). From I89I to 1896 TSWETT was a student at the University of Geneva, Faculte des Sciences, where he was influenced by the lectures of M. THURY (botany), PH. A. GUYE

'CH. DHERE, Candollea (Geneva), ro, 23-73 (1943); with a list of thirty-seven papers published by TSWETT, and three photographs.

2J. BRIQUET (Editor), Biographies des Botanistes a' Geneve (1500 a 193I), p. 463, Geneva; published by the Societe botanique suisse (1 940). A one-line announcement of TSWETT'S death appeared in the Berichte der deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft in 1920.

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Mikhail Tswett - the Inventor of Chromatography IO9

(chemistry), and CH. SORET (physics). His first scientific contribution 3 was made in the Botanical Institute under the direction of R. CHODAT, and was rewarded by a prize which had been endowed by Lady DAVY in memory of her famous husband. In I 895 TSWErTr began to work on his thesis 4

under the direction of THURY. From I90I he resided in Warsaw (Poland, then

belonging to the Russian Empire) and in the same year he received, on the basis of a second thesis, the degree of a "magister" at the University of Kazan, Russia. At the University of Warsaw, TsWE-rr was appointed as an assistant (1901-1902) and instruc- tor (from 1902 on). In 1907 he became a Professor of Botany and Agronomy at the Veterinary School and then a Professor of Botany and Microbiology at the Institute of Technology in Warsaw (I908). Meanwhile he published his magnum opus, "The Chromophylles in the Vegetable and Animal King- dom" (i9io)" which also served as a further thesis for another doctorate in Botany (I91o) and which was awarded a prize by the Academy of Science in St. Petersburg (now Leningrad).

TSWErr's activities were, however, unexpectedly interrupted in 1915, when the German Army oc- cupied Warsaw. Leaving his library and other be- longings behind, he took refuge first in Moscow, then in Nishni-Novgorod (at present, Gorki) where it was intended to re-establish the Warsaw Institute of Technology. This project does not seem to have been realized. In 1917 TSWETT wrote to Dr. BRIQUET from Vladikavkaz, in the Caucasus, that he was convalescing from a grave illness, and he also announced the good news that he had been appointed full Professor and Director of the Botani- cal Garden at the University of Youriev (= Dorpat -Tartu, Estonia).

It seemed as if he would finally reach a scientific haven. Because of poor health he was, however, unable to reach his new institute before the end of 1917 or perhaps shortly after New Year I9I8. Youriev was occupied by the Germans in February I9I8. The University migrated to Voronezh, and TsWETr left for that town aboard the last train

' Recherches d'anatomie physiologique sur le leptome intraxillaire des Solanacees, Loganiacees et Nolanacees (published only as an extract).

4 Etudes de physiologie cellulaire. Contributions a la connaissance des mouvements du protoplasme des membranes plasmiques et des chloroplastes (1I896).

' Chromophilli v rastitelnom i zhivotnom mire. Warsaw (1910).

which transported university professors and other officials. He died in Voronezh in May 1920, the exact date being unknown.

TSWETT was well aware of the importance of chromatography, the various applications of which he clearly foresaw in many fields, that of colorless substances included. He predicted the heterogeneity of plant xanthophyll and carotene and opened up new aspects for the study of the "carotenoids," - a term used by him for the first time. But the best known early demonstration of his method concerns chlorophyll. The co-existence of two native green pigments, "chlorophylline a and ,," which were later designated as "chlorophyll a and b," was claimed by him as early as in 1907, i.e. before the beginning of WILLSTATrER's classic investigations. While the WILLSTATTER school's research work was started with the idea of the homogeneity of the main green leaf pigment, eventually it confirmed in a brilliant preparative manner the correctness of TsWErr'S early chromatographic observations. TsWErr found, for example, spectral maxima (in ether) of his in- dividual chlorophyll solutions at 66i my and 641 my respectively, while the corresponding values ob- tained by WILLSTATTER and STOLL with isolated pure material are 662 my and 643 my.

Some other achievements of TSWE-rr could also be mentioned, but it is impossible to do justice to his work in the present biographical sketch.

TsWErr'S life includes a series of tragedies, first of all a grave disease and the disastrous influence of world shaking events on his happiness and working facilities. In addition, the importance of his achieve- ments was not duly acknowledged either during his lifetime or for some time later. It is rather difficult to understand fully the cause of this general neglect. Admittedly, his book appeared only in Russian; he published, however, a number of shorter papers in German and French. Furthermore, he demonstrated the new technique at a meeting of the Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft on June 28, 1907, -an important date in the history of chromatography. Evidently, this method was so original that it lay outside the border lines within which the chemists were accustomed to work.

MIKHAIL TsWETr shared the fate of the many eminent scientists, writers, and artists who have died miserably, without ever having seen the fruits of their effort and of the stimulus given by their pioneer ideas to mankind.

L. ZECHMEISTER

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