Honored as Chemist

Soon after his graduation from Dartmouth in 1920, Lyndon F. Small, now head chemist of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., set for himself an almost impossible-sounding goal: to find a drug which would be effective in overcoming the pain of cancer but which would not have the habit-forming properties of morphine.

On March 9, for his outstanding achievements in the field of alkaloid chemistry, specifically for his share in perfecting the drug metopon, Dr. Small received the 1950 Hillebrand Prize of the Washington Section of the American Chemical Society. This award is made annually to the member of the Washington Section who has made a notable contribution to chemistry during the three preceding years.

Although the completely satisfactory substitute for morphine has not yet been found, metopon, derived from an alkaloid of opium, which was developed largely through the inspiration and direction of Dr. Small, has been proved to reduce pain, to be free from emetic effects, and to make unnecessary large increases in dosage, since the body's rate of tolerance to it is slow. It also has a great advantage over morphine in that it can be administered by mouth. Now manufactured by three companies, with the United States holding title to the patent, metopon has also been used in the treatment of some forms of drug addiction.

DR. LYNDON F. SMALL '20