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Almroth Wright

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Almroth Wright
File:Almroth Wright.PNG
Sir Almroth E. Wright at Cambridge.
Born(1861-08-10)10 August 1861
Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire, England.
Died30 April 1947(1947-04-30) (aged 85)
Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materTrinity College, Dublin
Known forvaccination through the use of autogenous vaccines
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society[1]
Scientific career
Fieldsbacteriology
immunology
InstitutionsNetley Hospital
St Mary's Hospital, London

Sir Almroth Edward Wright, FRS[1] KBE, CB (10 August 1861 – 30 April 1947) was a British bacteriologist and immunologist.[2]

He is notable for developing a system of anti-typhoid fever inoculation, recognizing early on that antibiotics would create resistant bacteria and being a strong advocate for preventive medicine.

Biography

Wright was born at Middleton Tyas, near Richmond, North Yorkshire into a family of mixed Anglo-Irish and Swedish descent.[3] He was the son of Reverend Charles Henry Hamilton Wright, deacon of Middleton Tyas, who later served in Belfast, Dublin and Liverpool and managed the Protestant Reformation Society.[4] His mother was the daughter of Nils Wilhelm Almroth, Governor of the Swedish Royal Mint in Stockholm.[5] His junior brother Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright became librarian of the London Library.

He studied medicine at Dublin University. In the 19th century, Wright worked with the armed forces of Britain to develop vaccines and promote immunisation.

In 1902 Wright started a research department at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London. He developed a system of anti-typhoid fever inoculation and a method of measuring protective substances (opsonin) in human blood. Citing the example of the Second Boer War, during which many soldiers died from easily preventable diseases, Wright convinced the armed forces that 10 million vaccines for the troops in northern France should be produced during World War I. Among the many bacteriologists who followed in Wright's footsteps at St Mary's was Sir Alexander Fleming, who in turn later discovered lysozyme and penicillin. Wright was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1906.[6]

Wright warned early on that antibiotics would create resistant bacteria, something that has proven an increasing danger. He made his thoughts on preventive medicine influential, stressing preventive measures. Wright's ideas have been re-asserted recently—50 years after his death—by modern researchers in articles in such periodicals as Scientific American.

He also proposed that logic be introduced as a part of medical training, but his idea was never adopted. Wright also pointed out that Pasteur and Fleming, although both excellent researchers, had not actually managed to find cures for the diseases which they had sought cures, but instead had stumbled upon cures for totally unrelated diseases.

Wright was a strong proponent of the Ptomaine theory for the cause of Scurvy.[7] The theory was that poorly preserved meats contained alkaloids that were poisonous to humans when consumed. This theory was prevalent when Robert Falcon Scott planned his fateful expedition to the Antarctic in 1911. In 1932, the true cause of the disease was determined to be the deficiency from the diet of a particular nutrient, now called Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid, Scorbic meaning Scurvy).

Women's suffrage

The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage by Sir Almroth Wright M.D. F.R.S. was published in 1913, and is available at the Project Gutenberg.[8] In his book, Wright vigorously opposes the professional development of women.[9]

Legacy

Wright was immortalised by George Bernard Shaw as Sir Colenso Ridgeon in the play 'The Doctor's Dilemma' written in 1906. In addition, there is also a ward named after him at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London.

Works

  • The Unexpurgated Case against Woman Suffrage (1913)
  • Pathology and Treatment of War Wounds (1942)
  • Researches in Clinical Physiology (1943)
  • Studies on Immunization (2 vol., 1943–44)

References

  1. ^ a b Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1098/rsbm.1948.0032, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1948.0032 instead.
  2. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1038/npg.els.0002962, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1038/npg.els.0002962 instead.
  3. ^ Michael Worboys, ‘Wright, Sir Almroth Edward (1861–1947)’, Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37032, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/37032 instead.
  4. ^ Dr. C. H. H. Wright (obituary). The Times, 22 March 1909.
  5. ^ Sir Charles Hagberg Wright (obituary). The Times, 7 March 1940.
  6. ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  7. ^ Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine Volume 90 July 1997
  8. ^ The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage at Project Gutenberg
  9. ^ Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1979) [1915]. Herland (various formats). Introduction by Ann J. Lane (First ed.). New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 130 and 142. ISBN 0-394-50388-0. Retrieved 16 October 2012. I see now clearly enough why a certain kind of man, like Sir Almroth Wright, resents the professional development of women.... 'Sexless, epicene, undeveloped neuters!' he [Terry O'Nicholson] went on bitterly. He sounded like Sir Almwroth Wright. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)

Bibliography

  • Walker, N M (2007), "Edward Almroth Wright", Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, vol. 153, no. 1 (published March 2007), pp. 16–7, PMID 17575871
  • Stone, Marvin J (2007), "The reserves of life: William Osler versus Almroth Wright", Journal of medical biography, vol. 15 Suppl 1, pp. 28–31, PMID 17356738
  • Diggins, Francis (2002), "Who was...Almroth Wright?", Biologist (London, England), vol. 49, no. 6 (published December 2002), pp. 280–2, PMID 12486306
  • Matthews, J Rosser (2002), "Almroth Wright, vaccine therapy, and British biometrics: disciplinary expertise versus statistical objectivity", Clio medica (Amsterdam, Netherlands), vol. 67, pp. 125–47, PMID 12215201
  • Worboys, M (1999), "Almroth Wright at Netley: modern medicine and the military in Britain, 1892-1902", Clio medica (Amsterdam, Netherlands), vol. 55, pp. 77–97, PMID 10631532
  • Baron, J H (1997), "Scurvy, Lancaster, Lind, Scott and Almroth Wright", Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, vol. 90, no. 7 (published July 1997), p. 415, PMC 1296402, PMID 9290433
  • Meynell, E W (1996), "Some account of the British military hospitals of World War I at Etaples, in the orbit of Sir Almroth Wright", Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, vol. 142, no. 1 (published February 1996), pp. 43–7, PMID 8667330
  • Matthews, J R (1995), "Major Greenwood versus Almroth Wright: contrasting visions of "scientific" medicine in Edwardian Britain", Bulletin of the history of medicine, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 30–43, PMID 7711458
  • Turk, J L (1994), "Almroth Wright--phagocytosis and opsonization", Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, vol. 87, no. 10 (published October 1994), pp. 576–7, PMC 1294842, PMID 7966100
  • Gillespie, W (1991), "Paul Ehrlich and Almroth Wright", West of England medical journal, vol. 106, no. 4 (published December 1991), pp. 107, 118, PMID 1820079
  • Allison, V D (1974), "Personal recollections of Sir Almroth Wright and Sir Alexander Fleming", The Ulster medical journal, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 89–98, PMC 2385475, PMID 4612919
  • Hatcher, J (1972), "Sir Almroth Wright; pioneer of humanised cows' milk", Midwives chronicle, vol. 86, no. 18 (published November 1972), p. 356, PMID 4485442
  • Fish, W; Cope, Z; Gray, A C (1961), "Sir Almroth WRIGHT (1861-1947)", Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, vol. 107 (published July 1961), pp. 130–6, PMID 14447829
  • Fish, W; Cope, Z; Gray, A C (1961), "Sir Almroth WRIGHT (1861-1947)", Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, vol. 107 (published July 1961), pp. 130–6, PMID 13699916
  • Colebrook, Leonard (1953), "Almroth Wright; pioneer in immunology", British medical journal, vol. 2, no. 4837 (published 19 September 1953), pp. 635–640, doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4837.635, PMC 2029492, PMID 13082064
  • Works by Almroth Wright at Project Gutenberg
  • The Plato of Praed street: the life and times of Almroth Wright. M.S.Dunnill. RSM Press 2000

See also

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