Charles James Martin

Charles James Martin, FRS, FRCS (9 January 1866 - 15 February 1955) was a British scientist who did seminal work on protein denaturation, nutrition, snake toxins and other medical topics. He was the first director of The Lister Institute for Preventative Medicine, serving from 1903 to 1930.^[1]

Born in Hackney, North London to Josiah (an insurance company actuary) and Elizabeth Mary Martin, Charles James was part of an extended family of children from his parents' previous marriages. Being a delicate child, he was sent off to a private boarding school in Hastings. At 15 he was employed as a junior clerk at the insurance firm where his father worked. He studied mathematics as a requirement for a future as actuary, but showed no special aptitude. Browsing through the numerous bookshops in the area, he came across a secondhand copy of "A Hundred Experiments in Chemistry for One Shilling." Carrying out these experiments, he was sufficiently inspired to entreat his father to allow him to pursue a career in science. He accordingly went up to study physiology at King's College, London. He then studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital and spent some time in Leipzig studying physiology under Karl Ludwig.

In 1887 he was appointed demonstrator in biology and physiology at King's College. In 1891 he accepted a post as lecturer at Sydney University, before moving to the University of Melbourne as Professor of Physiology. He remained in Australia for fourteen years, after which he returned to the UK to become the first Director of the Lister Institute for Preventive Medicine.^[2]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1901. His candidacy citation read: "Professor of Physiology in the University of Melbourne. Is eminently distinguished as an original investigator in Physiology. His chief original papers deal with the Chemistry and Physiology Action of Snake Venom, and with the action and reaction of Toxins and Antitoxins. Author of: - 'The Chemistry of the Venom of the Australian Black Snake' (Proc Roy Soc, NSW, 1892); 'The Physiology Action of the Venom of the Australian Black Snake' (ibid, 1895); Curative Action of Calmette's Serum against Australian Snakes' (Internat Med Journ, 1897–1898, and Proc Roy Soc, 1898); 'Nature of the Antagonism between Toxins and Antitoxins' (ibid, 1898, joint Author); 'Separation of Colloids and Crystalloids by Filtration' (Journ of Physiology, 1896); 'Observations on the Anatomy of the Muzzel of 'Ornithorhynchus',' with Dr Wilson (Linn Soc, NSW, 1892); 'Observations on the Femoral Gland of 'Ornithorhynchus',' with Dr Tidswell (Linn Soc, NSW, 1894); 'An Investigation into the Effects of the Darling Pea, 'Swainsonia galegifolia' (Agricultural Department of NSW); 'Cerebral Localization in Platypus' (Journ of Physiol, 1899) ^[3]

During WWI he served with the Australian Army Medical Corps in the Middle-East and France as a pathologist with the rank of Lieutenant-colonel. After the war he returned to the Lister Institute and concentrated on vitamin deficiency studies until his retirement in 1931. He then spent a further two years in Australia as Professor of Biochemistry and General Physiology at the University of Adelaide. On his return to the UK he went to live at Roebuck House in Old Chesterton, Cambridgeshire which he equipped as a laboratory. During WWII it was used to rehouse the experimental animals being used for medical studies in London.

He was awarded the Royal Society's Royal Medal in 1923 and delivered the Royal College of Physicians Croonian Lecture in 1930. He was knighted in 1927.

He died in 1955 at Old Chesterton. He had married Edythe Cross, daughter of Alfred Cross circa 1900. They had one daughter.

References

1. ^ Chick, H. (1956). "Charles James Martin. 1866-1955". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 2: 172–208. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1956.0013. 
2. ^ http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=817960&jid=BJN&volumeId=10&issueId=01&aid=817952
3. ^ http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqSearch=RefNo==%27EC%2F1901%2F09%27&dsqCmd=Show.tcl

• obituary

External links

• Biographical sketch - The Journal of Nutrition

Persondata
Name	Martin, Charles James
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 January 1866
Place of birth
Date of death	15 February 1955
Place of death