RF Annual Report - 1935 - The Rockefeller Foundation

138 THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION
faint amount of scattered light known as the
*
Raman spectrum. The study of this scattered
light reveals various facts about the substance
and structure of the molecules of the material in
question. The
method is particularly suited to
large, complex, and
relatively unstable molecules,
and hence has important possibilities in
the study of substances of biological importance.
Professor Kohlrausch, director of the Physical
Institute, is a recognized authority in the
field of Raman spectra. About one and a half
years ago he turned his attention to the application
of this technique to the amino acids, the
basic substances which form the proteins. The
grant in question relates primarily to these amino
acid studies.
University of Michigan
Biophysics
For several years past Professor 0. S. Duffendack,
of the Department of Physics of the University
of Michigan, has been cooperating with
Dr. L. H. Newburgh, professor of internal medicine,
in developing a spectroscopic method of
measuring the amount of inorganic bases in body
fluids. The advantages of this method are that it
is more, reliable, very considerably faster, and
requires smaller samples than any known chemical
methods. During the past year these methods
© 2003 The Rockefeller Foundation