John Tait (physiologist)
John Tait (1878–21 October 1944) was a 20th-century Scottish physician, physiologist and medical author. He was Emeritus Professor of Medicine at McGill University in Canada.[1]
Life
He was born at St Ola in Orkney in 1878. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating M.D. in 1906,[2] and winning the Gold Medal for best in class that same year. In 1907 John Tait gained a D.Sc.[3] He undertook postgraduate studies at Göttingen and Berlin and began lecturing in Experimental Physiology at Edinburgh in 1910. His essay on “Yohimbine : a contribution to the study of narcotic agents” was awarded the Edinburgh University Milner Fothergill Medal in Therapeutics, 1911.[4]
In the First World War he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Macedonia and Italy.
In 1917 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, James Cossar Ewart, James Lorrain Smith and Cargill Gilston Knott. He won the Society's Neill Prize for 1917–1919, and resigned in 1936.[5]
From 1919 to 1940 he was Joseph Morley Drake Professor of Physiology at McGill University.[6] This followed a 4-year interregnum during the First World War following the premature death of Prof George Mines.[7] He was joined in his work by W. J. McNally and Boris Babkin.[8]
In 1938 he had a heart attack, forcing him into semi-retirement. He retired fully in 1940 and had a return trip to Scotland. His position as Professor of Physiology was filled by Babkin.[7]
He died in Montreal on 21 October 1944.[7]
References
- ^ "History of the Department 1821-1949". Department of Physiology. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ^ Tait, John (1906). "The influence of low temperatures on nerve : (an experimental research)". hdl:1842/27502.
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(help) - ^ Tait, John (1907). "Reactions of cooled nerve with special relation to its fatigability". hdl:1842/19337.
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(help) - ^ Tait, John (1911). "Yohimbine: a contribution to the study of narcotic agents with an appendix on photoactive changes in yohimbine solutions". hdl:1842/20820.
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(help) - ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology vol 16
- ^ a b c "Departmental Chairs 1872 to the present". Department of Physiology. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "History of the Department 1821-1949". Department of Physiology. Retrieved 18 June 2019.