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Biomedical subjects

W F Bynum

Publications and source records attributed to W F Bynum.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Malaria in inter-war British India.

British India was an important site of much important malaria research. Although Ronald Ross left India in 1899, a number of malariologists continued the task of evaluating the incidence and distribution of malaria in the country. Implementing practical solutions was hampered by formidable social and economic problems. This paper examines the Indian situation in the late 1920s, through a retrospective selection of writings chosen by J.A. Sinton for reproduction in an early issue of 'The records of the malaria survey of India', and the analysis of the Indian malaria situation through a visit of the League of Nations Malaria Commission in 1929.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Plus çà change.

For the past couple of centuries the penchant for prediction has been prevalent at century turns. How much have evaluations of scientific discovery and predictions for future advancement changed since those of the science commentators at the end of the last century?

Disease↗
PubMed1999

Ronald Ross and the malaria-mosquito cycle.

This essay examines briefly Ronald Ross's research on malaria in India between 1895 and 1899, during which time he elucidated the role of the Anopheles mosquito in the transmission of the disease. During his crucial experimental work in 1898, he used birds, human malaria being relatively uncommon in Calcutta. This article is based largely on the correspondence between Ross and Patrick Manson, which has just been edited.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

[Medicine and medical science in 1898: insects and disease transmission].

By the 1890's, some of the excitement had gone out of classic bacteriology. The germ theory of disease was widely accepted and the causative agents identified for many bacterial diseases. The nature of immunity preoccupied many scientists, but attention also shifted to the class of diseases which Patrick Manson called "tropical". 1898 has claim to be the year in which tropical medicine came of age. It saw the work of Ross and Grassi on mosquito transmission of malaria, the research on the sexual nature of Plasmodium reproduction by Simond and MacCallum, the planning of the schools of tropical medicine in London and Liverpool, the opening of the Laboratory in Senegal, the first issue of the Journal of Tropical Medicine and the publication of Manson's classic textbook, Tropical Diseases. My talk will examine the state of biomedical knowledge a century ago, in a time of confident imperialism.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

"Reasons for contentment": malaria in India, 1900-1920.

Although Ronald Ross carried out his pioneering investigations on the role of the mosquito in the transmission of malaria in India, antimalarial activities in the sub-continent were disappointing. After the unsuccessful attempt at mosquito control at the military cantonment at Mian Mir (near Lahore, present day Pakistan), quinine prophylaxis was adopted as a compromise solution. While this strategy also failed, a good deal of important work was carried out in India in the first two decades of the twentieth century, so that by the 1920s, the magnitude of the malaria problem was fully appreciated.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Pre-registration in historical perspective.

This essay examines the background and implementation of the statutory requirement that each medical graduate in Great Britain must spend a pre-registration year in hospital training before full registration can be effected. It looks briefly at the French and USA 'internship', and then describes the British situation before 1950, when a Medical Act made the pre-registration year compulsory. The Parliamentary Act was passed after full consultation with appropriate professional organizations and, despite various changes, still provides the basic structure of the first postgraduate year of medical training.

Education, Medical, Graduate↗
PubMed1996

Eighteen-ninety-six and all that.

This year's commemorative platter includes ether anaesthesia, smallpox vaccination, radioactivity and several mathematical morsels, as well as an accidental death (Otto Lilienthal) and the mother of all births (the Universe).

History, 16th Century↗
PubMed1995

Eighteen ninety five and all that.

Anniversarial commemorations this year include the discovery of X-rays, the calculation of the position of the undiscovered planet Neptune, the emergence of syphilis and the mandatory serving of lime juice to British sailors.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Eighteen ninety-four and all that.

Understanding the intricacies of colour vision, the origins of the DNA industry and the classification of stars are but three of the scientific birthdays celebrated in this year's anniversarial feast.

History, 16th Century↗
PubMed1994

An experiment that failed: malaria control at Mian Mir.

With the discovery of the role of the Anopheles mosquito in the transmission of malaria came the goal of mosquito control as a public health measure. One of the early experiments (1902-1909) in mosquito control was conducted at the military cantonment at Mian Mir, near Lahore in present-day Pakistan. The experiment attached much attention and comment, especially from Ronald Ross who argued that it had been badly planned and inadequately funded. Mian Mir certainly demonstrated that mosquito eradication was difficult to achieve and unlikely to be inexpensive, and is said to have influenced subsequent malaria programmes in India and elsewhere.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1993

Policing hearts of darkness: aspects of the international sanitary conferences.

Internationalism became an important feature of medicine and medical science during the second half of the nineteenth century. Internationalism emerged in a climate of nationalism and the latter sometimes affected cooperation, especially after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, and the increased imperialism of the last third of the century. Against this backdrop, the International Sanitary Conferences, beginning with the first one in Paris in 1851, attempted to provide guidelines to control the spread of disease, especially cholera and plague. Quarantine was seen as a central feature of disease control, but it remained a controversial measure, since it disrupted trade and inhibited freedom of movement. Most of the early Sanitary Conferences failed to reach agreement, but by the early twentieth century, a broader series of control measures began to be effected, as knowledge of the mode of spread of infectious diseases was achieved.

Communicable Disease Control↗