WOMAN SCIENTIST DEAD

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 May 1931, Page 4

WOMAN SCIENTIST DEAD

VICTIM OF EYE TROUBLE. Dr. Florence Buchanan, who for 30 years carried out highly specialised scientific work in spite of the handicap of almost total blindness, has died at Oxford. A daughter of the late Sir George Buchanan, Chief Medical Officer* of the Local Government Board, her sight began to fail soon after she left University College, London. As a means of checking the development of her eye trouble, Dr. Bchanan had to lie on her back for three months. Unablo to write during that time, she dictated a paper on “The Electrical Response of Muscle in Different Kinds of Contraction,” and for this she received the degree of D.Sc. from London University, and University College elected her a Fellow. With great courage and enthusiasm she continued her scientific work. Not only did she refuse to abandon her experiments, bpt made careful notes of the progress oi her own eye .trouble. She continued her studies to the end and contributed numerous valuable articles to scientific periodicals. A short timd before her death, Dr. Buchanan delivered important lectures on electro-physiological subjects. She was the first woman to be elected a member of the Physiological Society. “Everyone in Oxford had the greatest respect and affection for Miss Buchanan,” Professor Winifred Cullis, of the London School of Medicine for Women said. “She was a remarkable woman. I was often afraid she might come to some harm in the streets so I used to offer help, but she always replied, ‘No, I must get used to going about by myself.’ ”