Obituary
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83 Obituary VLADIMIR KORENCHEVSKY M.D. Moscow Dr. Korenchevsky, who died on July 9 at the age of 79, will he remembered in this country for his work for gerontology at the Lister Institute and later as director of the Oxford gerontological unit. Born at Lida in Russia, he qualified in 1903. During the Russo-Japanese war from 1904 to 1907 he was head of a bacteriological laboratory in Manchuria. Later he worked with Mechnikoff in Paris and with Pavlov in St. Petersburg, and in 1911 he was appointed professor of experimental pathology in the liussian Imperial Milit- ary Medical Academy. In 191a he was appointed pro- fessor of experimental pathology in the Russian Imperial Military Medical Academy. In 1919 he escaped to the White Army, fighting in South Russia, and afterwards he became a British subject. He worked at the Lister Institute from 1929 till in 1945 he set up the Oxford gerontological unit. which was largelv supported by Nuf- tield grants. In 1952, when the unil was transferred from Oxford to the department of physiology at St. Bartho- lomew’s Hospital, Dr. Korenchevsky retired from the directorship. But he continued his studies and he sum- marised his findings and opinions in a book Physiologica! and Pathofogicuf Ageing finished shortly before his death. He was a moving spirit in the formation .1i’ societies for research on ageing and one of the organisers of the first internalional gerontological conference- A.C. writes : ’’Korenchevsky’s monument is the existence of a body of scientific gerontology in Britain and America. He was a character, an indefatigable and, for much of his time practically singlehanded experimentalist, a formidable organiser, and above all an enthusiast in the best sense. Pavlov, he once said, had taught him ’Think about your work when you get out of bed, think about it at break- fast and all the way to the laboratory, think about it on the way home. and say your prayers to it a night. Chairmen of grants committees, heads of departments, or individual researchers who did not want to hear about the importance 01 gerontelogy would leave by rear entrances when they saw Korenchevsky coming. It is only now that he is gone that one realises how much lie did to restore the scientific credit of research on age studies—by private propaganda, by his own work (which was old-fashioned, perhaps, in these days of information theory and somatic aneuploidy, but always critical), by his persistence, and hy his ambition to achieve recog- nition, not for himself, but for his subject. To this end he would exploit every asset hc had, even his nuisance value to the apathetic. In the end he achieved it. At most recent scientific conferences on gerontology, he was there, tall and white-haired, the film director’s image of the emigre count or the distinguished scientist, ready to intervene in the debate or to shake his head sadly whn a physicist or a mathematician defeated old age in three straight sets. Sometimes one came to think that he had secretly defeated it himself, and it is sad that we shall see him there no more." KENNETH REGINALD STOKES M. R. C. S, 1)r. Stokes, medical director of Harefield Hospital Middlesex, died on July 9. "For thirty years’’, write T.H.S., ’’Kenneth Stokes has been identified with the administration of an institution that became a modern sanatorium, then devclopec) into a vast E.M.S. hospital. and finally evolved into the active chest hospital which has been the training home of so many physicians and surgeons from the Commonwealth. As a physician he was at his best in the care and control of sick nurses to whom he restored not only health but confidence and the ability to lead a normal life. As an administrator he was supreme at coordinating and main- taining harmony in the complexities of a large hospital. Members of St. Mary’s staff who worked at Harefield during the Jate war 6will hear wituess to the help that he gave, and to the respect and affection with which he was regarded. "Outside a busy professional life he was acutely interested in the history and antiquities of the neigh- bocrhood and he spent many happy hours as a prominent 1. See Lancet, July 11, 1959, p. 35. 2. H.M. (55) 66. 3. Report of H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines and Quarries for 1958. H.M. Stationery Office, 1959. Pp. 62. 3s. 6d. member of the local cricket team. In his leisure hours nothing delighted him (and his audience) so much as a metaphysical debate in which his give-and-take had an almost Johnsonion character. In this age of stress and rush the loss of a man who transmitted so much good will and tranquillity is to be regretted.’’ GRACE M. SICKLES Miss Grace M. Sickles, an associate research scientist in the Division of Laboratories and Research of the Xew York State Department of Health, died on June 2’.). In 1947, with Dr. Gilbert Dalldorf, she identified the Coxsackic virus during a study of outbreaks of polio- myelitis in New York State. It was named from the village in which the first two recognised humau infections occurred. Earlier Miss Sickles had taken part with Dr. Augustus B. Wadsworth in an extensive series of investigations on the production and standardisation of an- tipneumococcus, antimeningococcus, and antistreptococcus sera, and on the action of immune serum in conjunction with chemotherapy in experimental streptococcus infec- tions. Medicine and the Law Claim for Privilege Upheld The case at Bristol assizes (Patch u. The United Bristol Hospitals) in which a patient, who had contracted gas- gangrene after an operation, lost a claim for damages 1, raised the issue of a hospital’s right to claim privilege from production for written statements made, according to the procedure recommended by the Ministry of Health =, hy members of the staff after an untoward incident which might give rise tu litigation. At the Bristol hospital the consulting surgeon, senior registrar, house-surgeon, and nurses had made written statements within 2-10 days of the development of the gas-gangrene infection which were sent at once to the solicitors of the hospital. It was argued for the plaintiff that, as they were made before he had put forward any claim, it could not be said that they had come into existence "solely or mainly" to enable the solicitors to advise the l3uard of Governors. The Board’s solicitor rested his claim for privilege on Seahrookt’. British Transport Commission, when it had been hcld that the reports or a conductor driver and or inspector immediatly after a traffic accident were privi- leged. In ruling that the hospital’s claim for privilege should be uphelct Mr. Justice Streatfield said: "Where in s’teh a case as tin present f) substantial onus is on th, Hospital Authority, it se’.’nis to me that, when something goes wrong in medical or surgical treatment which reasonably gives rise to anticipated legislation, any statement which is then made by persons concerned with the patient in anti- cipution of that kind ol’ claim whictr or may not be made made is quite clcarly privileged. It is not a document which was made in the ordinary course of treatment, but it is made simply because something unfortunatoly has gone wrong; and in order to previde th e legal advisers of the Hospital Autho- rity with the necessary material to advise if such a claim should be made there documents come into evistence. I should have thought these documents were even more privileged than ihy were in the case of Seabrook v British Transport Coul- mission. ceordingly 1 rale, that this claim for privilege must be upheld." Public Health MINES AND QUARRIES In his latest annual rcpmi 1 the chief inspector of mines and quarries records a further deiease in cerfifealions of pncumocomosis; but the report acknowledges the failibilitv of these data as a gmdc ta iactdenw of the disease. The plan for five-yearly N-rays of coalworkers was put into operation in 1958, and this will affect the tiend in certifientions for at least one cycle. Dust control, based on a mospheri measu- rements. continues to reduce the number of areas not reaching the "approved" standard. and the report s’ates that ill some working positous conditions better than tlm standard can and should be reached. Comparatively little information is given on the dust risks in quarry-working. In 1958 the accident-rate in the mines was not substantially ditt’erent from that in 1958. and in some instances it was higher. The report deseribes many mstances where care lw manager or workmen would hase prevented accidents. part- cularly those involing evplosives The ed for foresiht by manager and men is even more obvious ill the account of a idents in quarries
Transcript of Obituary
83
Obituary
VLADIMIR KORENCHEVSKYM.D. Moscow
Dr. Korenchevsky, who died on July 9 at the ageof 79, will he remembered in this country for hiswork for gerontology at the Lister Institute and lateras director of the Oxford gerontological unit.Born at Lida in Russia, he qualified in 1903. During
the Russo-Japanese war from 1904 to 1907 he was headof a bacteriological laboratory in Manchuria. Later he
worked with Mechnikoff in Paris and with Pavlov inSt. Petersburg, and in 1911 he was appointed professorof experimental pathology in the liussian Imperial Milit-ary Medical Academy. In 191a he was appointed pro-fessor of experimental pathology in the Russian ImperialMilitary Medical Academy. In 1919 he escaped to theWhite Army, fighting in South Russia, and afterwardshe became a British subject. He worked at the ListerInstitute from 1929 till in 1945 he set up the Oxfordgerontological unit. which was largelv supported by Nuf-tield grants. In 1952, when the unil was transferred fromOxford to the department of physiology at St. Bartho-lomew’s Hospital, Dr. Korenchevsky retired from thedirectorship. But he continued his studies and he sum-marised his findings and opinions in a book Physiologica!and Pathofogicuf Ageing finished shortly before his death.He was a moving spirit in the formation .1i’ societiesfor research on ageing and one of the organisers of thefirst internalional gerontological conference-
A.C. writes :’’Korenchevsky’s monument is the existence of a body
of scientific gerontology in Britain and America. He was a character, an indefatigable and, for much of his timepractically singlehanded experimentalist, a formidableorganiser, and above all an enthusiast in the best sense.
Pavlov, he once said, had taught him ’Think about yourwork when you get out of bed, think about it at break-fast and all the way to the laboratory, think about it onthe way home. and say your prayers to it a night.Chairmen of grants committees, heads of departments, orindividual researchers who did not want to hear aboutthe importance 01 gerontelogy would leave by rear
entrances when they saw Korenchevsky coming. It isonly now that he is gone that one realises how much liedid to restore the scientific credit of research on agestudies—by private propaganda, by his own work (whichwas old-fashioned, perhaps, in these days of informationtheory and somatic aneuploidy, but always critical), byhis persistence, and hy his ambition to achieve recog-nition, not for himself, but for his subject. To this endhe would exploit every asset hc had, even his nuisancevalue to the apathetic. In the end he achieved it. Atmost recent scientific conferences on gerontology, he wasthere, tall and white-haired, the film director’s image of the emigre count or the distinguished scientist, readyto intervene in the debate or to shake his head sadlywhn a physicist or a mathematician defeated old agein three straight sets. Sometimes one came to thinkthat he had secretly defeated it himself, and it is sad thatwe shall see him there no more."
KENNETH REGINALD STOKESM. R. C. S,
1)r. Stokes, medical director of Harefield HospitalMiddlesex, died on July 9."For thirty years’’, write T.H.S., ’’Kenneth Stokes has
been identified with the administration of an institutionthat became a modern sanatorium, then devclopec) intoa vast E.M.S. hospital. and finally evolved into the activechest hospital which has been the training home of so
many physicians and surgeons from the Commonwealth.As a physician he was at his best in the care and controlof sick nurses to whom he restored not only health butconfidence and the ability to lead a normal life. As anadministrator he was supreme at coordinating and main-taining harmony in the complexities of a large hospital.Members of St. Mary’s staff who worked at Harefieldduring the Jate war 6will hear wituess to the help thathe gave, and to the respect and affection with which hewas regarded.
"Outside a busy professional life he was acutelyinterested in the history and antiquities of the neigh-bocrhood and he spent many happy hours as a prominent
1. See Lancet, July 11, 1959, p. 35.2. H.M. (55) 66.3. Report of H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines and Quarries for
1958. H.M. Stationery Office, 1959. Pp. 62. 3s. 6d.
member of the local cricket team. In his leisure hoursnothing delighted him (and his audience) so much as a
metaphysical debate in which his give-and-take had an
almost Johnsonion character. In this age of stress andrush the loss of a man who transmitted so much goodwill and tranquillity is to be regretted.’’
GRACE M. SICKLESMiss Grace M. Sickles, an associate research scientist
in the Division of Laboratories and Research of theXew York State Department of Health, died on June 2’.).In 1947, with Dr. Gilbert Dalldorf, she identified theCoxsackic virus during a study of outbreaks of polio-myelitis in New York State. It was named from thevillage in which the first two recognised humau infectionsoccurred. Earlier Miss Sickles had taken part withDr. Augustus B. Wadsworth in an extensive series of
investigations on the production and standardisation of an-tipneumococcus, antimeningococcus, and antistreptococcussera, and on the action of immune serum in conjunctionwith chemotherapy in experimental streptococcus infec-tions.
Medicine and the Law
Claim for Privilege UpheldThe case at Bristol assizes (Patch u. The United Bristol
Hospitals) in which a patient, who had contracted gas-gangrene after an operation, lost a claim for damages 1,raised the issue of a hospital’s right to claim privilegefrom production for written statements made, accordingto the procedure recommended by the Ministry of Health =,hy members of the staff after an untoward incident whichmight give rise tu litigation. At the Bristol hospital the
consulting surgeon, senior registrar, house-surgeon, andnurses had made written statements within 2-10 days ofthe development of the gas-gangrene infection whichwere sent at once to the solicitors of the hospital. It wasargued for the plaintiff that, as they were made beforehe had put forward any claim, it could not be said thatthey had come into existence "solely or mainly" toenable the solicitors to advise the l3uard of Governors.The Board’s solicitor rested his claim for privilege on
Seahrookt’. British Transport Commission, when it hadbeen hcld that the reports or a conductor driver and or
inspector immediatly after a traffic accident were privi-leged.
In ruling that the hospital’s claim for privilege shouldbe uphelct Mr. Justice Streatfield said:"Where in s’teh a case as tin present f) substantial onus
is on th, Hospital Authority, it se’.’nis to me that, whensomething goes wrong in medical or surgical treatment whichreasonably gives rise to anticipated legislation, any statement whichis then made by persons concerned with the patient in anti-cipution of that kind ol’ claim whictr or may not be mademade is quite clcarly privileged. It is not a document whichwas made in the ordinary course of treatment, but it is madesimply because something unfortunatoly has gone wrong; andin order to previde th e legal advisers of the Hospital Autho-rity with the necessary material to advise if such a claimshould be made there documents come into evistence. I shouldhave thought these documents were even more privileged thanihy were in the case of Seabrook v British Transport Coul-mission. ceordingly 1 rale, that this claim for privilege mustbe upheld."
Public Health
MINES AND QUARRIESIn his latest annual rcpmi 1 the chief inspector of mines
and quarries records a further deiease in cerfifealions ofpncumocomosis; but the report acknowledges the failibilitv ofthese data as a gmdc ta iactdenw of the disease. The plan
for five-yearly N-rays of coalworkers was put into operationin 1958, and this will affect the tiend in certifientions for at
least one cycle. Dust control, based on a mospheri measu-
rements. continues to reduce the number of areas not reachingthe "approved" standard. and the report s’ates that ill some
working positous conditions better than tlm standard can
and should be reached. Comparatively little information is
given on the dust risks in quarry-working.In 1958 the accident-rate in the mines was not substantially
ditt’erent from that in 1958. and in some instances it was
higher. The report deseribes many mstances where care lw
manager or workmen would hase prevented accidents. part-cularly those involing evplosives The ed for foresiht bymanager and men is even more obvious ill the account ofa idents in quarries
