Edgar Crookshank
Encyclopedia
Edgar March Crookshank was an English physician
and microbiologist
.
and qualified for medicine in 1881. He served briefly as an assistant to Joseph Lister
, a physician noted for his work promoting antiseptic
s and sterile
surgery
. In 1882, Crookshank served as a doctor with the British armed forces sent to Egypt
as a result of the Urabi Revolt
; he was decorated for his service at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir.
On return from Egypt, Crookshank toured Europe in 1884 for further medical training. In Berlin, he visited the laboratory of Robert Koch
and learned methods of isolating bacterial strains to investigate infectious disease
s.
When he returned to London, Crookshank wrote a textbook, An Introduction to Practical Bacteriology Based on the Methods of Koch, which was published in 1886. Subsequent editions were published under differing titles in 1887, 1890 and 1896, and a French translation by H. Bergeaud was published in Paris as soon as 1886.
In 1885, Crookshank founded one of the world's first bacteriological laboratories for human and veterinary pathology
in London.
Crookshank was also interested in the use of photography to study bacteria and published Photography of Bacteria in 1887, the first text in English devoted solely to the photography of bacteria. In the introduction to this book he wrote that the photographs were "intended to convince scoffers of the essential truth of the new Science, that specific, often morphologically distinct, microorganisms were the cause of particular infectious diseases".
During this time he became interested in the study of infectious diseases in animals and in 1886 was awarded the chair of Comparative Pathology and Bacteriology at King's College London
. In his new role he was asked to investigate an outbreak of cowpox
in Lechlade
, Gloucestershire
.
His investigations led him to reconsider the use of cowpox
-derived vaccines
to immunize against smallpox
, a treatment developed by Edward Jenner
nearly a hundred years earlier. His conclusion was that such vaccine
s were ineffective in preventing smallpox because the two diseases (cowpox and smallpox) were "totally distinct". Instead of a cowpox-derived vaccine, he advocated the use of a more dangerous vaccination using attenuated smallpox
. In 1889, he published a two-volume treatise on the subject, A History and Pathology of Vaccination. Vaccination policies were a divisive topic at the time and in the ensuing controversy that resulted from his publication, Crookshank quit his chair at King's College London in 1891. He continued to speak out on health matters but never worked in a laboratory again. He subsequently, however, focused on the encouragement of agricultural and veterinary science, serving as a governor of the Royal Veterinary College
until his death.
In 1894, Crookshank was appointed Justice of the Peace
for Sussex
, and in 1906 stood unsuccessfully as East Grinstead
's parliamentary candidate as a Unionist and Tariff Reformer. In later life, he travelled extensively in the Dominion
s, becoming a skilled big-game hunter and deputy chairman of two Scottish-Australian corporations.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and microbiologist
Microbiologist
A microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
.
Biography
Crookshank studied at King's College LondonKing's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
and qualified for medicine in 1881. He served briefly as an assistant to Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister OM, FRS, PC , known as Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary...
, a physician noted for his work promoting antiseptic
Antiseptic
Antiseptics are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction...
s and sterile
Sterilization (microbiology)
Sterilization is a term referring to any process that eliminates or kills all forms of microbial life, including transmissible agents present on a surface, contained in a fluid, in medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media...
surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. In 1882, Crookshank served as a doctor with the British armed forces sent to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
as a result of the Urabi Revolt
Urabi Revolt
The Urabi Revolt or Orabi Revolt , also known as the Orabi Revolution, was an uprising in Egypt in 1879-82 against the Khedive and European influence in the country...
; he was decorated for his service at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir.
On return from Egypt, Crookshank toured Europe in 1884 for further medical training. In Berlin, he visited the laboratory of Robert Koch
Robert Koch
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician. He became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis , the Tuberculosis bacillus and the Vibrio cholerae and for his development of Koch's postulates....
and learned methods of isolating bacterial strains to investigate infectious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
s.
When he returned to London, Crookshank wrote a textbook, An Introduction to Practical Bacteriology Based on the Methods of Koch, which was published in 1886. Subsequent editions were published under differing titles in 1887, 1890 and 1896, and a French translation by H. Bergeaud was published in Paris as soon as 1886.
In 1885, Crookshank founded one of the world's first bacteriological laboratories for human and veterinary pathology
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
in London.
Crookshank was also interested in the use of photography to study bacteria and published Photography of Bacteria in 1887, the first text in English devoted solely to the photography of bacteria. In the introduction to this book he wrote that the photographs were "intended to convince scoffers of the essential truth of the new Science, that specific, often morphologically distinct, microorganisms were the cause of particular infectious diseases".
During this time he became interested in the study of infectious diseases in animals and in 1886 was awarded the chair of Comparative Pathology and Bacteriology at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. In his new role he was asked to investigate an outbreak of cowpox
Cowpox
Cowpox is a skin disease caused by a virus known as the Cowpox virus. The pox is related to the vaccinia virus and got its name from the distribution of the disease when dairymaids touched the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by...
in Lechlade
Lechlade
Lechlade, or Lechlade-on-Thames, is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames near here....
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
His investigations led him to reconsider the use of cowpox
Cowpox
Cowpox is a skin disease caused by a virus known as the Cowpox virus. The pox is related to the vaccinia virus and got its name from the distribution of the disease when dairymaids touched the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by...
-derived vaccines
Smallpox vaccine
The smallpox vaccine was the first successful vaccine to be developed. The process of vaccination was discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796, who acted upon his observation that milkmaids who caught the cowpox virus did not catch smallpox...
to immunize against smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, a treatment developed by Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner
Edward Anthony Jenner was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire...
nearly a hundred years earlier. His conclusion was that such vaccine
Vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
s were ineffective in preventing smallpox because the two diseases (cowpox and smallpox) were "totally distinct". Instead of a cowpox-derived vaccine, he advocated the use of a more dangerous vaccination using attenuated smallpox
Attenuated virus
An attenuated vaccine is a vaccine created by reducing the virulence of a pathogen, but still keeping it viable . Attenuation takes an infectious agent and alters it so that it becomes harmless or less virulent. These vaccines contrast to those produced by "killing" the virus .-Examples:Examples of...
. In 1889, he published a two-volume treatise on the subject, A History and Pathology of Vaccination. Vaccination policies were a divisive topic at the time and in the ensuing controversy that resulted from his publication, Crookshank quit his chair at King's College London in 1891. He continued to speak out on health matters but never worked in a laboratory again. He subsequently, however, focused on the encouragement of agricultural and veterinary science, serving as a governor of the Royal Veterinary College
Royal Veterinary College
The Royal Veterinary College is a veterinary school located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. The RVC was founded in 1791 and joined the University of London in 1949...
until his death.
In 1894, Crookshank was appointed Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and in 1906 stood unsuccessfully as East Grinstead
East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
's parliamentary candidate as a Unionist and Tariff Reformer. In later life, he travelled extensively in the Dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s, becoming a skilled big-game hunter and deputy chairman of two Scottish-Australian corporations.
Publications
- History and Pathology of Vaccination, Volume 1, Nabu Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1144964090
- A Textbook of Bacteriology: Including the Etiology and Prevention of Infective Diseases and a Short Account of Yeasts and Moulds, Haematoza, and Psorosperms, Nabu Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1174751615
- Photography of Bacteria, General Books LLC, 2010, ISBN 978-1458841544
- Manual of Bacteriology, Nabu Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1146490030
Sources
- Professor Crookshank, Obituary, The Times, Jul 03, 1928.
- The bacteria craze of the 1880s.(Department of History), The Lancet (Feb 13, 1999): 581(1).
- Manual of Bacteriology http://books.google.fr/books?id=rIiv0XUJ1lkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=edgar+crookshank&hl=fr&ei=-EjpS8OfBc38_AbjypjWCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
- History and Pathology of Vaccination - Vol.I. -A Critical Inquiry see: http://books.google.fr/books?id=b3gQw5i8X8oC&pg=PP8&lpg=PP8&dq=Auzias+-+Turenne+Cow++Pox+and+++Horse+Pox.&source=bl&ots=TAlHYhS0DX&sig=GkZxxXj68drMYmq2TO8zyxhAkto&hl=fr&ei=rK_pS4TlIoXm-QaY9fjCBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CEUQ6AEwCTgU#v=onepage&q=Auzias%20-%20Turenne%20Cow%20%20Pox%20and%20%20%20Horse%20Pox.&f=false