DR. JOHN SCOTT HALDANE

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 May 1936, Page 14

DR. JOHN SCOTT HALDANE

WORK FOR SAFETY IN MINES

LONDON, March 17. •

Jhe death at the age of 76 of Professor John Scott Haldane, brother of the late Viscount Haldane, represents the loss of a very distinguished physiologist and philosopher whose work was of incalculable benefit to very large sections of the community (says the “Daily Telegraph”).

No one can estimate how many thousands of lives, particularly those of miners, have been saved through his work.

He had the gift not merely of probing learnedly into fundamental problems, but of applying in the most practical way the knowledge he gained. It was Professor J. S. Haldane who was sent hastily to France in the early part of the war immediately after the use of gas by the Germans. He was chragecl with the duty of observing the effects of this form of warfare and of suggesting the best means of resisting them. Professor Haldane saw the victims, and their sufferings made him deeply resentful of what he described as “brutally barbarous” conduct. He reported to Earl Kitchener that chlorine or’ bromine had been used for the purpose of asphyxiation. Devoting himself energetically to ■methods of protection, he helped materially to relieve much of the danger from subsequent attacks. In his research work he was accustomed to carry out dangerous experiments, and more than once he was fortunate in escaping consequences to himself.

STAY TN GAS CHAMBER When he was 67 he shut himself in a steel chamber in order to ascertain the effects of inhaling carbon monoxide. With him was a Mount Everest explorer. Carefully Prof. Haldane observed all that happened during a very lenghty stay in this chamber, and afterwards he vividly described the adventure. Of what occurred during one hour of it he had no knowledge whatever. Yet, according to his younger companion, he talked all the time and asked a great many questions. He was quite unaware of this. He was also unaware that he had picked up a hand-mirror, and looked into it to see if his lips were blue, without realising that he was looking only at the back of the mirror. His movements were those of a drunken man, his handwriting became irregular, and his senses were so dulled that he tried to grasp distant objects under the impression they were near to him. When he came out of the chamber he confessed that he “felt just a little bit funny,” and was in a bad temper. “But I don’t regard these things as dangerous,” he remarked. “They are worse for the onlookers.” Prof. Haldane devoted the greater part of his life to the physiological study of mining conditions, and 33 years ago showed how serious a factor was carbon monoxide in colliery jj He evolved ingenious methods of detecting the danger, and to ensure safety went on to produce his self-con-tained rescue apparatus. In other departments of activity he was also very energetic. His advice was eagerly sought not only in Britain, but by other countries. < His views were of importance when serious problems had to be faced in great tunnelling projects or in deepsea diving and problems of working in compressed air. Mountaineers and flying men relied on his skill. Three years ago he produced, in collaboration with Sir Robert Davis, a special suit enabling the wearer to fly to a height of 17 miles and even beyond. Through his experiments the problem of mountain sickness was adequately tackled.

STUDY OF SUNSTROKE One. of his last tasks was to visit Persia to study the troubles of oil workers because of sunstroke. Honorary professor and director of the Mining Research Laboratory at Birmingham and gas referee to the Board of Trade, Prof. Haldane had been engaged in his scientific research for half a century. He had served on several Royal Commissions and carried out various special inquiries for the Government. His investigation of the cause of the great gas explosion in Holborn a lew years ago was typical of his activities. , , He was born at Edinburgh, and educated there and at Jena. He was not only an LL.D, and D.Sc., but a doctor of medicine. Many great honours came to him. He was awarded the Copley medal of the Royal Society and the Royal medal, the gold medal of the Royal college of Medicine, and the Baly medal of the Royal College ot Physicians. Prof. Haldane wrote several books, and some of them were devoted, as were his erudite lectures, to a lucid exposition of his views on life. Foi more than a quarter of a century he protested against attempts to explain life by any purely physical or chemical hypotheses. . Prof. Haldane married, in 18JL Louisa Kathleen, daughter ot Coutts Trotter, who survives, with a son ana daughter. The son is Prof. J. B. S. Haldane, who has occupied the chan of Genetics at London University since 1933. The daughter is Naomi Mitchison, the novelist, vife of Mi. G. R. Mitchison.