On Digestive Proteolysis: Being the Cartwright Lectures for 1894

In 1894, American physiologist Raphael H. Chittenden delivered the Cartwright Lectures to the New York Academy of Medicine, capturing a pivotal moment when chemistry and physiology were merging into something entirely new: biochemistry. This volume documents his meticulous examination of digestive proteolysis, the process by which enzymes break down complex proteins into soluble forms the body can absorb. Chittenden traces the story from early observations of gastric digestion through the emerging understanding of proteolytic enzymes, synthesizing decades of research from laboratories across Europe and America. He employs rigorous chemical methods to decipher how the body transforms food into life, examining the respective roles of gastric and pancreatic juices with the precision that defined late Victorian scientific inquiry. The lectures reveal both the remarkable insights and the limitations of the era, offering a compelling window into how close scientists came to discovering enzymes and protein chemistry as we understand them today. This work stands as a historical artifact of enduring value for anyone interested in the intellectual origins of modern nutritional science.