Swale Vincent
British physiologist
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Thomas Swale Vincent (24 May 1868 – 31 December 1933) was a British physiologist who spent most of his working life in Canada.
Thomas Swale Vincent | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 May 1868 |
| Died | 31 December 1933 (aged 65) |
| Alma mater | Mason Science College (later the University of Birmingham) |
| Known for | Early research on ductless glands |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physiologist; endocrinologist |
| Institutions | Mason Science College later the University of Birmingham) University of Manitoba University of London |
Early years
Thomas Swale Vincent was born in Birmingham on 24 May 1868, the son of Joseph Vincent and his wife, Margaret Swale.[1][2]
He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Birmingham,[1][2] and subsequently studied medicine at Mason Science College (which later became the University of Birmingham), graduating MB in 1894.[3][1][2] At age 24, Swale qualified in medicine, and travelled to the University of Heidelberg to study under Albrecht Kossel.[1] He then returned to Mason Science College as a demonstrator of physiology.[1]
Career
In 1896, Vincent's first paper, entitled "The Suprarenal Capsules in the Lower Vertebrates," was published in The Proceedings of the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society.[1] This research earned him a BMA Research Scholarship,[1] presenting the opportunity to work with E.A. Schäfer, the original discoverer of the suprarenal capsules, at University College in London.[1] In 1897, Vincent succeeded Benjamin Moore as Sharpey Scholar,[1] becoming assistant professor to Schäfer, and, in 1899, to Ernest Starling.[1]
In 1900, Vincent was appointed a lecturer at Cardiff, where his students included future cardiologist Thomas Lewis, with whom he published two papers on the biochemistry of muscle.[1] Lewis later wrote, "I have always been grateful to Vincent for giving me my first introduction to scientific work."[1] Two years later, he was awarded the Francis Mason Research Scholarship,[1] and rejoined Schäfer, now at the University of Edinburgh, to study the physiology of the thymus and other ductless glands.[1] In 1904 he was awarded a Doctor of Science from the University of Edinburgh for his thesis on Addison's disease and the functions of the suprarenal capsules.[4]
In 1904, Vincent was appointed the first professor of physiology at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.[1][5] Here, he oversaw the research of biochemist Alexander Thomas Cameron, and was influential in fostering Cameron's interest in endocrinology.[6] In 1910, Vincent was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, William Cramer, James Cossar Ewart and Orlando Charnock Bradley.[7] Vincent remained at Manitoba until 1920, when he returned to London to become professor of physiology at Middlesex Hospital.[1] He retired from this post in 1930.[1]
Personal life
In 1914, he married Beatrice Overton, daughter of Mr. W. Overton, and had two daughters; all three survived him.[1] Vincent's shyness sometimes gave an impression of brusqueness, but friends knew him as a "staunch friend and a charming companion."[1] Vincent, who practised as a pianist, also had a deep love of music.[1]
Attitudes
Vincent's research on endocrinology earned him a strong international reputation in his field.[1] He was known for his "highly critical and sceptical mind,"[1] and was described by colleague William Cramer as "a man of firm principles and high ideals on which he would not compromise."[1]