George Carmichael Low
Encyclopedia
George Carmichael Low was a Scottish parasitologist.
He was born in Monifieth, Forfarshire, Scotland, the son of Samuel Miller Low, a manufacturer of flax machinery and educated at the University of St Andrews
. Having gradusted MA from St Andrews he then studied for a medical degree at Edinburgh University, gradusting MD in 1897. For the next two years he was a resident house doctor at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
.
In November, 1899 he moved to London to work at the new London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
under Patrick Manson
. He was sent to Vienna to learn a new technique for sectioning mosquitos and on his return was able to use the technique to prove that mosquitos pass on parasites from person to person during the act of biting.
In 1900 he spent three months in a malaria-ridden part of Italy and by avoiding mosquitos demonstrated that they were responsible for the trasmission of the disease. He spent 1901 in the West Indies, confirming Manson's discovery that filaria ( a small worm) transmitted by mosquitos was the cause of elephantiasis. In 1903 he was head of a team sent to Uganda to investigate the cause of "sleeping sickness" which unfortunately failed to identify the true cause (Trypanasoma sp.) of the outbreak.
On his return in 1903 he was appointed superintendent of the Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital
(ADH) where the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine was located. He remained there for the rest of his working life, being appointed Physician in 1918 and Senior Physician in 1919. During WWI he was made a Major in the Indian Medical Service
, treating sick officers at the ADH.
In 1907 he formed, together with James Cantlie
, the Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene which in 1920 was granted the Royal prefix to become the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
. He was the twelfth president of the society himself from 1929 to 1933 and oversaw their move into Manson House in Portland Place where they remained until 1903.
He was a keen ornithogist and served on the council of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
. He married Edith Nash in 1906: they had no children.
He was born in Monifieth, Forfarshire, Scotland, the son of Samuel Miller Low, a manufacturer of flax machinery and educated at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
. Having gradusted MA from St Andrews he then studied for a medical degree at Edinburgh University, gradusting MD in 1897. For the next two years he was a resident house doctor at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh or RIE, sometimes mistakenly referred to as Edinburgh Royal Infirmary or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on...
.
In November, 1899 he moved to London to work at the new London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a constituent college of the federal University of London, specialising in public health and tropical medicine...
under Patrick Manson
Patrick Manson
Sir Patrick Manson was a Scottish physician who made important discoveries in parasitology and was the founder of the tropical medicine field....
. He was sent to Vienna to learn a new technique for sectioning mosquitos and on his return was able to use the technique to prove that mosquitos pass on parasites from person to person during the act of biting.
In 1900 he spent three months in a malaria-ridden part of Italy and by avoiding mosquitos demonstrated that they were responsible for the trasmission of the disease. He spent 1901 in the West Indies, confirming Manson's discovery that filaria ( a small worm) transmitted by mosquitos was the cause of elephantiasis. In 1903 he was head of a team sent to Uganda to investigate the cause of "sleeping sickness" which unfortunately failed to identify the true cause (Trypanasoma sp.) of the outbreak.
On his return in 1903 he was appointed superintendent of the Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital
Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital
The Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital was a hospital provided by the Seamen's Hospital Society for the care of ex-members of the Merchant navy, the fishing fleets and their dependents....
(ADH) where the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine was located. He remained there for the rest of his working life, being appointed Physician in 1918 and Senior Physician in 1919. During WWI he was made a Major in the Indian Medical Service
Indian Medical Service
The Indian Medical Service was one of the military medical services, which also had some civilian functions, in British India. It served during the two world wars, and was in existence until the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947...
, treating sick officers at the ADH.
In 1907 he formed, together with James Cantlie
James Cantlie
Sir James Cantlie was a Scottish physician. He was a pioneer of First Aid, which in 1875 was unknown: even the police had no knowledge of basic techniques such as how to stop serious bleeding and applying splints...
, the Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene which in 1920 was granted the Royal prefix to become the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President is generally acknowledged as the father of tropical medicine. He passed the presidency on to the Nobel laureate Sir Ronald Ross ,...
. He was the twelfth president of the society himself from 1929 to 1933 and oversaw their move into Manson House in Portland Place where they remained until 1903.
He was a keen ornithogist and served on the council of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...
. He married Edith Nash in 1906: they had no children.