A perspective in time.

Abstract

PERSPECTIVES IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE Volume 18 · Number 4 · Summer 1975 A PERSPECTIVE IN TIME ALEXANDER HADDOW* Ars longa vita brevis.—[Hippocrates, Seneca] Introduction London, 1973 Some time ago, my wife, having occasion to go through some of my earlier papers, uncovered an essay on "Neoplasia" which I had written in 1929, just before my graduation in that year from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Edinburgh. Although I well remember it, it remained unpublished and I had not perused it in the intervening 45 years. Written in a distinctly priggish and presumptuous style, it is not without elegance, and it occurs to me that it may give some diversion to the modern reader, affording him amusement and perhaps even instruction . It also enables us to set up some comparison between cancer research then and today. It shows evidence of a seriousness and confidence which the flight of the years has done much to diminish, and I can present it with a curious detachment. I say this since I am aware of a strange separateness from the younger writer. These were stirring days in cancer research and in science generally. The great discoveries of Warburg had led many to anticipate some practical application [I]; it was just a year after the famous International Cancer Conference held in London in 1928 [2]; it was also the year of Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin [3] and of Kennaway and Cook's recognition of l:2:5:6-dibenzanthracene as the first pure chemical individual with pronounced carcinogenic properties [4]. Many younger workers forget that the present rise in tumour immunology was preceded by a long and ?Present address: The Lodge, Pollards Wood, Nightingales Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks HP8 4SN, England. I acknowledge my indebtedness to my wife, to Miss A. M. Whitecross (my literary assistant), to the staff of the Chester Beatty Research Institute library, to Professor Alastair Currie, to Mr. A. B. Cheyne, and to Dr. R. A. M. Case. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Summer 1975 I 433 varied history, and 1929 also saw the publication ofWoglom's celebrated review of the subject [5]. In this, after surveying some hundreds of papers, he concluded that only a handful appeared to have any permanent value. Also, 1929 was some years ahead of the foundation (in 1933) of the Union internationale contre le cancer [6] and of the Union's First International Congress, held in Madrid that year. Fig. 1 434 J Alexander Haddow · Perspective in Time I wish to inscribe this paper to the memory of two personages from the Edinburgh ofthe day. The first is ProfessorJames Lorrain Smith ([7] and fig. 1), who was, of course, Professor of Pathology and for many years Dean of the Medical School, succeeding the famous Harvey Littlejohn . Grave, stern, and dignified in demeanour, Lorrain Smith was in general by no means an inspiring teacher, although at all times a beloved one. His main concerns seemed to lie in the uninviting subject of fatty degeneration of the liver. It will not be forgotten that he had a special interest in the metabolism of fats, witness his famous Nile blue sulphate staining method for the identification of such substances, both acidic and neutral. However, during his classes in pathology he delivered three lectures on growth [8], which the writer can never forget for their decisive and formative influence on his career or for their philosophical and biological quality. The second personage is Professor T. J. Mackie ([9-1 1] and fig. 2), who was Professor of Bacteriology in the University and a wise and kindly chief. His main interest lay in natural immunity, in which he was well ahead of his time. Shortly after graduation I was appointed to his staff to teach bacteriology and to work on tumour immunology. Also through this happy chance I was able to develop a major preoccupation in the growth and variation of bacteria. (For figures 1 and 2 I must extend my appreciation to Mr. A. B. Cheyne, late of the Department of Bacteriology.) Here follows the essay. Foreword NEOPLASIA Edinburgh, March 1929 The following essay is the result of a desire to put on...