Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 2.djvu/174

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MARTIN


152


MARTIN


authority, and filling his rooms with all that an antiquarian and bibliophile loves to possess.

He married Frances Coffin Crosby, eldest daughter of Judge Nathan Crosby of Lowell, ^lassachusetts, on August 9, 1848. They had five children, two of whom, Stephen Crosby and Francis Coffin, became physicians.

Dr. Martin died at his home, 27 Dudley St., Roxbury, from diabetes, on December 7, 1884.

F. C. M.

Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., 1885, vol. cxii. Jour. Am. Med. Assoc, Chicago, 1885, vol. iv. (H. O. Marcy.) N. York Med. Jour., 1884, vol. xl.

Martin, Henry Newell (1848-1896).

A biologist, Henry Newell Martin was born at Newry, County Down, Ireland, of Irish parentage, on July 1, 1848, the eldest of a family of twelve. His father was a congregational minister, who afterwards became a schoolmaster. The boy's education was acquired chiefly at home and at the age of fifteen he matriculated at the University of London (an exemption as to age being made in his favor) and at the same time became apprentice to a Dr. Mc- Donagh in the vicinity of University College. It was stipulated that his duties as apprentice should not prevent his attending lectures and doing hospital work. It was during his apprentice- ship, in 1867, that the friendship began with Michael Foster, and the latter re- lates that, although Martin was only able to give half the usual time to his course on practical physiology, he learned more than the rest of the students in their whole time. He greatly distinguished himself at University College, taking several medals and prizes. In 1870 he obtained a scholarship at Christ's College, Cambridge, and was appointed demonstrator of physiology. He did much by his personal qualities and bright ways to make natural science popular in that University. He distin- guished himself in Cambridge as he


had in London, gaining first place in the Natural Science Tripos in 1873. While there he took the B. Sc. and M. B., London, gaining in the former the schol- arship in zoology. He proceeded later to the D. Sc. being the first to take that degree in physiology. About this time he began to do research work, his first paper being on the structure of the olfactory mem- brane. In the summer of 1874 he assisted Foster in his course on biology and subsequently acted as assistant to Huxley. Under Huxley's supervision, he prepared a text-book of this course, which appeared under their names with the title "Practical Biology." In 1874 he was made fellow of his college, and was fairly launched upon his career. Shortly after this, the Johns Hopkins University was founded, and in 1876 Martin was invited to be- come the first occupant of the chair of biology. He accepted the ofi'er and thus nearly the whole of his scientific career was passed in America. He came prepared to develop the higher teaching of biologic science and es- pecially to foster the spirit of research, and during his stay in Baltimore (1876- 1893) he produced a very marked effect on American science, fully carrying out the great aim of the university which had adopted him. He car- ried on many important investigations, among which may be especially mentioned those on the excised mammalian heart, one of which formed the subject of the "Croonian Lecture" of the Royal Society in 1883. The whole was published by his friends and pu- pils in 1895, under the title "Physiolog- ical Papers." . He turned out from his laboratory many trained physiologists, who have maintained the high stand- ard he set. He wrote several text- books, of which his "Human Body," 1881, was most important, becoming very popular. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1885; he was also given the honorary M. D. by the Univer- sity of Georgia. He was one of the