J. Jackson Clarke
J. Jackson Clarke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 3 February 1860[1] Lincoln,England |
| Died | 4 December 1940 |
| Occupation(s) | Pathologist, writer |
James Jackson Clarke(3 February 1860 – 4 December 1940)F.R.C.S.was a Britishpathologist,surgeonand cancer researcher, best known for advocating aparasitic theory of cancer.
Biography
[edit]Clarke was born inLincoln.[2]He was educated atLincoln Grammar Schooland atSt Mary's Hospitalwhere he was awarded a senior scholarship in natural science, pathology and a prize in surgery.[2]He obtained his M.R.C.S. in 1886, M.B. in 1888 and F.R.C.S. in 1890. He was house surgeon, house physician, pathologist and senior demonstrator of anatomy at St Mary's Hospital.[2]
Clarke was clinical assistant at theRoyal London Ophthalmic Hospitaland a consulting surgeon to Hampstead and North-West London Hospital and to theRoyal National Orthopaedic Hospital.He was an honorary secretary of theHarveian Society.[2]
His best known work was his four volumeProtozoa and Disease,which reviewed the evidence forprotozoaas an agent in the production of disease. The first volume was positively reviewed and was considered one of the best on the subject.[3]However, the second and third volumes were controversial as they advocated a parasitic theory as the cause of cancer.[4]
Clarke's views about cancer had previously been severely criticized by other pathologists such as the Morbid Growths Committee of the Pathological Society of London as having no scientific foundation. Clarke believed that hisprotozoatheory of cancer should be examined by the medical community but was it criticized due to lack of evidence.[4][5]A review inThe British Medical Journalin 1912, commented that "authorities of the first rank" disagreed with many of Clarke's statements but concluded that his theory deserves a fair hearing.[5]
In 1923, Clarke authoredProtists and Disease.In this work he made a restatement of his case but revised some of his views as he came to the conclusion that the pathogenic organisms he described were not protozoa but protists allied tosynchytriaceae.[6][7]Clarke was convinced that "inmolluscumwe have an easy key to smallpox, the filtrable organisms and to cancer ".[8]A review in theJournal of the American Medical Associationnoted that "this evidence in favor of his view is wholly morphologic in nature, and is in no way convincing; nevertheless, the book will interest the students of the etiology of cancer and other problems of causation".[8]
Selected publications
[edit]- Post-Mortem Examinations in Medico-Legal and Ordinary Cases(1896)
- Surgical Pathology and Principles(1897)
- Protozoa and Disease(4 volumes, 1903, 1908, 1912, 1915)
- A Note on Syphilis and Cancer, Etc., and on Some Protozoa(The British Medical Journal,1906)
- Cancer Problems(The British Medical Journal,1907)
- Protists and Disease(1922)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors".Authorandbookinfo.com. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^abcd"James Jackson Clarke".Royal College of Surgeons of England. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^"Reviewed Work: Protozoa And Disease by J. Jackson Clarke".The British Medical Journal.2(2221): 196. 1903.
- ^ab"Reviewed Work: The Cause Of Cancer. Protozoa And Disease by J. Jackson Clarke".The British Medical Journal.1(2681): 1133. 1912.
- ^ab"Reviewed Work: Protozoa And Disease. Comprising Sections On The Causation Of Smallpox, Syphilis, And Cancer by J. Jackson Clarke".The British Medical Journal.1(2468): 932. 1908.
- ^"Reviewed Work: Protists And Disease by J. Jackson Clarke".The British Medical Journal(3246): 475. 1923.
- ^"Reviewed Work: Protists and Disease. Vegetable Protists; Algae and Fungi by J. Jackson Clarke".The Journal of Parasitology.9(3): 181. 1923.doi:10.2307/3271098.JSTOR3271098.
- ^ab"Review: Protists and Disease".Journal of the American Medical Association.80(21): 1539. 1923.