Stanley Rossiter Benedict

Stanley Rossiter Benedict was the son of Professor Wayland Richardson Benedict (born 1848) and Anne Elizabeth Kendrick. His father was professor of philosophy and psychology at the University of Cincinnati. His mother was a teacher and writer. She contributed stories to The Outlook, Independent, Examiner, etc. His maternal grandfather, Asahel Clark Kendrick (1809-1895), was professor of Greek, Hebrew and Sanskrit at the University of Rochester, and a member of the committee for the revision of the King James Version of the Bible.

Benedict grew up in Cincinnati, next to the youngest of six children. A sister, Dr. Mary K. Benedict, was at one time president of Sweet Briar College, but gave up educational work for the practice of medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. The children grew up in an atmosphere of intellectual inquiry and discussion; the family gathered every evening for a short time to listen to reading aloud by the father.

A busy student
Benedict was educated in the public schools in Cincinnati and studied at the University there. As a boy he planned to practice medicine, and his undergraduate studies at the University included a good many of the medical subjects. However, he became interested in investigative work during his undergraduate years, and abandoned medicine for teaching and research.

It was in his second year he devised his solution. Together with J. F. Snell he published nine papers describing new analytical methods in inorganic chemistry – before his graduation in chemistry. This research experience as a college student provided the intellectual foundation for his career.

In 1906, Benedict received his B.A. degree at the University of Cincinnati and went to Yale, to the Department of Physiological Chemistry, for post-graduate studies with Russell Henry Chittenden (1856-1943) and Lafayette Benedict Mendel (1872-1935).

Working with Lafayette Benedict Mendel
The Yale laboratory had been made famous by Chittenden, the first well-trained physiological chemist in the United States. A few years before Benedict entered Yale, Chittenden had become Director of the Sheffield Scientific School. His distinguished pupil, Lafayette B. Mendel, had taken over the supervision of graduate students and much of the teaching, but Chittenden still continued to give each year a course in nutrition and one in toxicology. Thus all the graduate students came intimately into contact with both of these superior men.

Under Mendel's direction Benedict studied the paths of excretion of several inorganic elements during his post-graduate years but his originality was apparent even at this time. He independently described a new procedure for separation of barium, strontium and calcium, and a new method for distinguishing between glucose and lactose – before completing his work for his degree.

1906 was an important year in biochemistry. In the American Journal of Physiology Otto Knut Olof Folin (1867-1934) published three papers which immediately brought him to distinction. The first of these described a new system for the analysis of urine for urea, ammonia, creatine, creatinine, and uric acid. Methods hitherto available for quantitative estimation of these substances were either seriously unspecific, as in the case of urea, or required relatively large samples for analysis, as was the case for uric acid. Otto Folin's new procedures were regarded by biochemists and physiologists as so great a step in advance that Harvard University created a professorship in biochemistry for the humble chemist working in the laboratory of the McLean Hospital for Mental Diseases at Waverley, Massachusetts.

Benedict received his Ph.D. under Mendel in 1908.

Analysing, analysing . . .
His first appointment was at Syracuse University, where he remained but one year. In 1910 he then took charge of physiological chemistry at Cornell University College of Medicine, in New York City. Graham Lusk (1866-1932), the distinguished physiologist, was responsible for Benedict's appointment. Benedict now entered with enthusiasm upon his career as an improver of analytical methods. Benedict held his position at Cornell until his death in 1936 at the age of 52.

Benedict had a close professional relationship with Otto Folin. "They succeeded in devising and refining analytical procedures for determination of minute amounts of the principal non-protein constituents of blood and urine so that, for the first time, chemical analysis became a highly useful technic for the discovery of the chemical processes in the normal functioning of the body." In spite of seventeen years difference in their age (Folin was the older), of the rivalry and controversy sometimes evident in their papers, there early developed between them a warm friendship which reveals the fine character of both. They were kindred spirits" (McCollum).

Every method which Folin described during the following years was immediately submitted to a critical study and was modified and improved in some important detail by Benedict. Methods for uric acid, creatine and creatinine, total sulphur, sugar, etc., which were devised by Folin, and which at the time of their publication were the best ones known, were tested by Benedict and improved in various ways within a few months.

Benedict's services as editor
Notwithstanding the regular teaching of physiological chemistry to medical students, and his constant occupation with post-graduate students and assistants and associates in the planning and supervision of his many researches, Benedict gave a great amount of time to editorial work. Beginning in 1912, he supervised the Biological Chemistry Section of Chemical Abstracts throughout the remainder of his life. In 1925 he accepted the editorship of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, a labour to which he gave much time and effort, which ended only with his death.

Benedict's Solution , or one of the many variants that evolved over the years, was used as the reagent of choice for measuring sugar content for more than 50 years. It was the most common test for diabetes and was the standard procedure for virtually all clinical laboratories. Benedict demonstrated that urinary ammonia was almost totally formed in the kidney, and with Folin should be credited as a major contributor to the measurement of metabolites in the blood so important in modern medicine.

Apart from his development of analytical techniques he discovered new substances such as ergothioneine in the red cells. In 1920 he became editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and early on decided to dispense with the final «e» which terminated many biological compounds until he was asked by one of his colleagues whether he was going to abolish the final «e» on his favourite liqueur - Benedictine. This caused him to change his views!

• P. A. Shaffer
  Obituary for Stanley Rossiter Benedict.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Baltimore, 1937, 117: 428.

• Elmer Verner McCollum (1869-1977):
  Stanley Rossiter Benedict, 1884-1936.
  Biographical Memoirs. National Academy of Sciences, 1952.

• Elmer Verner McCollum:
  Memoir of Stanley Rossiter Benedict.
  National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C. 1974, 27:

• Barry G. Firkin and Judith A. Whitworth:
  Dictionary of Medical Eponyms.
  The Parthenon Publishing Group. 1989. New edition in 2002.

• Internet sourc: Wikipedia

• A method for the estimation of chlorides, bromides and iodides.
  With J. F. Snell.
  Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1903, 25: 1138-1141.
• Detection of barium, strontium and calcium.
  Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1907, 28: 1596-1598.
• Detection and elimination of reducing sugars.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1907, 3: 101-117.
• The detection and estimation of reducing sugars.
  The New York Medical Journal, 1907, 86: 497-499,.
• A note on the reduction of alkaline copper solutions by sugar.
  The Biochemical Journal, 1907, 2: 408-411.
• The estimation of total sulfur in urine.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1909, 6: 363-371.
• Preparation of glyoxylic acid as a reagent.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1909, 6: 51-52.
• Paths of excretion of inorganic compounds IV. Excretion of magnesium, and V. Excretion of calcium. With Lafayette Benedict Mendel (1872-1935).
  American Journal of Physiology, 1909, 25, 1-22, 23-33.
• Estimation of urea in urine. With Frank Gephart.
  Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1909, 50.
• A reagent for the detection of reducing sugars.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1908/1909, 5: 485-487.
• The influence of salts and non-electrolytes upon the heart.
  American Journal of Physiology, 1908, 22: 16-31.
• A note on the estimation of purine nitrogen in urine.
  With Tadasu Saiki. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1909/1910, 7: 27.
• A note on the estimation of total sulfur in urine.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1909/1910, 7: 101-102.
• The estimation of urea.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1910/1911, 8: 405-421.
• The determination of total sulfur in urine.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1910/1911, 8: 499-501.
• Note on the determination of the amino-acid nitrogen in the urine.
  With John Raymond Murlin (1874-1960). Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1912, 9: 109-111.
• Note on the determination of amino-acid nitrogen in urine.
  With J. R. Murlin. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1913/1914, 16: 385-388.
• A modified Hempel gas pipette.
  Biochemical Bulletin, New York, 1914, 3: 1.
• Studies in creatine and creatinine metabolism I.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1914, 18: 183-190.
• Studies in creatine and creatinine metabolism III. With Emil Osterberg.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1914, 18: 195-214.
• The influence of induced diabetes on malignant tumors (including a case of human phlorhizin glycosuria.
  With H. B. Lew. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1914, 11: 134-136.
• The influence of feeding upon a cidosis in the phlorhizinized dog.
  With Emil Osterberg.
  Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1915, 12: 14.
• Colorimetric estimation of uric acid in urine. With Ethel Hitchcock.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1915, 20: 619-627.
• Colorimetric estimation of uric acid in blood.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1915, 20: 629-640.
• Studies in uric acid metabolism I. The uric acid in ox and chicken blood.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1915, 20: 633-640.
• An examination of the Folin—Farmer method (Colorimetric) estimation of nitrogen. With Joseph C. Bock.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1915, 20: 47-59.
• A method for the estimation of sugar in small quantities in blood.
  With R. C. Lewis.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1915, 20: 61-72.
• Reply to Wood and McLean.
  The Journal of Cancer Research, 1916, 1: 227-230.
• Uric acid in its relation to metabolism.
  The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, St. Louis, 1916, 2, 1-15.
• Studies in the influence of various factors in nutrition upon the growth of experimental tumors. With A. H. Rahe.
  The Journal of Cancer Research, 1917, 2: 159-178.
• Analysis of the blood of cancer patients for the non-protein constituents.
  With Ruth C. Theis. The Journal of Cancer Research, 1911, 2: 511.
• Studies in carbohydrate metabolism I. With Emil Osterberg
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1918, 34: 209-216.
• A method for the determination of sugar in normal urine.
  With Emil Osterberg. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1918, 34: 195-201.
• A modification of the Lewis-Benedict method for determination of sugar in blood. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1918, 34: 203-207.
• A new form of colorimeter. With J. C. Bock.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1918, 35, 227-30.
• Nutritive value of the banana. With Kanematsu Sugiura (1890-1979).
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1918, 36: 171-179.
• Preparation of Dakin's solution from liquid chlorine by the gravimetric method. Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Chicago, 1918, 27: 386-387.
• The determination of sugar by the modified picric acid method.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1919, 37: 503-504.
• The action of radium emanation on the vitamine of yeast.
  With K. Sugiura The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1919, 39: 421-433.
• The nutritive value of the banana. With K. Sugiura.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1919, 40: 449-468.
• The determination of small quantities of sugar in the urine, including observations on the polysaccharide content of human urine.
  Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1920, 17: 183.
• The effect of certain blood constituents on picrate solutions.
  With E. Osterberg. Archives of Internal Medicine, Chicago, 1921, 27: 135-136.
• A method for the determination of sugar in normal urine.
  With E. Osterberg. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1921, 48: 51-57.
• Crystalline uric acid compound in beef blood.
  Proceedings, American Society of Biological Chemists.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1921, 46: 5-6.
• The ammonia content of the blood and its bearing on the mechanism of acid neutralization in the animal organism. With Thomas P. Nash, Jr.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1921, 48: 462-88.
• Distribution of uric acid in the blood. With Ruth Theis.
  The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, St. Louis, 1921, 6: 680-683.
• The occurrence of creatine and creatinine in blood. With H. J. Allen.
  Proceedings, American Society of Biological Chemists.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1921, 46: 21.
• A method for the determination of blood voltime. With Elizabeth Franke.
  The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, St. Louis, 1921, 6: 618-624.
• The determination of uric acid in urine.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1922, 52: 187-207.
• A method for the direct determination of uric acid in urine.
  With Elizabeth Franke. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1922, 52: 387-391.
• Creatine and creatinine metabolism. IV. The question of the occurrence of creatinine and creatine in blood. With Jeanette Allen Behre.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1922, 52, 11-33.
• A method for the purification of picric acid for creatinine determination.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1922, 52: 239-241.
• The determination of uric acid.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1922, 54: 233-238.
• The combined uric acid in beef blood.
  With Alice Rohde Davis and Eleanor B. Newton.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1922, 54: 595-599.
• Combined colorimeter and nephalometer. With J. C. Bock.
  U. S. Patent No. 1, 456,964. 1923.
• Sugar determination after subcutaneous injection of glucose in the dog; including a discussion of the paper on observations on carbohydrates by Folin and Berglund.
  With E. Osterberg. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1923, 55: 769-794.
• The mechanism of phlorhizin diabetes. With T. P. Nash, Jr.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1923, 55: 757-766.
• The adequacy of certain synthetic diets for the nutrition of the pigeon.
  With K. Sugiura. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1923, 56: 33-44.
• Studies on creatine and creatinine metabolism. V. The metabolism of creatine.
  With E. Osterberg. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1923, 56: 229-252.
• The ammonia content of the blood. With T. P. Nash, Jr.
  Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, Leipzig 1924, 136: 130-133.
• The determination of phenols in blood. With Ruth C. Theis.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1924, 61: 67-71.
• A modification of the molybdate method for the determination of inorganic phosphorus in serum. With Ruth C. Theis.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 61,63-66.
• A reaction given by insulin solutions in vitro.
  Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1924, 21: 529.
• The mechanism of phlorhizin diabetes II. With T. P. Nash, Jr.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1925, 61: 423.
• Inorganic constituents of the serum in cancer. With Ruth C. Theis.
  The Journal of Cancer Research, 1925, 8: 499-503.
• The determination of uric acid in the blood.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1925, 64: 215-219.
• The determination of blood in sugar.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1925, 64: 207-213.
• The influence of certain limited diets upon tumor susceptibility and growth in albino rats. With K. Sugiura. The Journal of Cancer Research, 9, 204-15.
• The estimation of sugar in normal urine.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1926, 68, 759-67.
• The site of ammonia formation and the role of vomiting in ammonia elimination.
  With T. P. Nash, Jr. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1926, 69: 389-96.
• A new sulfur-containing compound (Thiasine) in the blood.
  With E. B. Newton and J. A. Behre.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1926, 67: 267-277.
• A colorimetric method for determining acetone bodies in blood and urine.
  With J. A. Behre. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1926, 70: 487-94.
• The influence of insufficient diets upon tumor recurrence and growth in rats and mice. With K. Sugiura. The Journal of Cancer Research, 1926, 10: 309-318.
• Thiasine, its structure and identification with ergothioneine.
  With E. B. Newton and Henry Drysdale Dakin (1880-1952).
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1927, 72: 367-373.
• Fractionation of the Rous chicken Sarcoma. With K. Sugiura.
  The Journal of Cancer Research, 1927, 11: 164-86.
• The determination of blood sugar, II.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1928, 76: 457-470.
• A note on the purification of picric acid for creatinine determination.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1929, 82: 1-3.
• The use of molybdic acid as a precipitant for blood protein. With E. B. Newton.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1929, 82: 5-10.
• The occurrence and determination of thioneine (ergothioneine) in human blood. With J. A. Behre. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1929, 82: 11.
• The question of the origin of urinary ammonia.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1929, 82: 673-678.
• Determination of sugar in blood.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1929, 83: 165-168.
• The use of tungstomolybdic acid as a precipitant for blood protein.
  With E. B. Newton. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1929, 83: 357-360.
• Studies on the non-sugar reducing substances in blood and urine. I. Glutathione and thioneine in blood.
  With E. B. Newton. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1929, 83: 361-365.
• The action of certain dyestuffs on the growth of transplantable tumors.
  With K. Sugiura. The Journal of Cancer Research, 1929, 13: 340-358.
• A critical study of vitamin A and carcinogenesis. With K. Sugiura.
  The Journal of Cancer Research, 1930, 14: 306-310.
• The influence of adrenaline on the growth of carcinoma, sarcoma and melanoma in animals. With K. Sugiura. The Journal of Cancer Research, 1930, 14: 487-501.
• Influence of high-fat diets on the growth of carcinoma and sarcoma in rats.
  With K. Sugiura. The Journal of Cancer Research, 1930, 14: 311-318.
• The analysis of whole blood. I. The precipitation of proteins.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1931, 92: 135-.
• The analysis of whole blood. II. The determination of sugar and of saccharoids (non-fermentable reducing substances).
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1931, 92 (1): 141-159.
• The analysis of whole blood. III. Determination and distribution of uric acid.
  With J . A. Behre. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1931, 92 (1): 161-170.
• The analysis of whole blood. IV. The determination of glutathione.
  With Gertrude Gottschall. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1933, 99: 729-740.
• The presence of creatinine in the blood. With J . A. Behre.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1933, 110: 245-248.
• Some applications of a new color reaction for creatinine. With J . A. Behre.
  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1936, 114: 515-32.
• The effect of an anemia-producing diet on the growth of carcinoma, sarcoma and melanoma in animals. The American Journal of Cancer, 1936, 26: 115-123.
• The precipitation of creatinine rubidium picrate from blood plasma filtrate.
  With J . A. Behre. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1937, 117: 415-422.