Page 14 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 1

ONDERSTEPOORT 100
of Montgomery. He negotiated successfully for 6 month’s
leave with Smith and in September left for British East Africa. It was widely doubted that he would return and Mitchell was designated as Acting Director of Veterinary Research in his place. During October the first three Swiss veterinarians arrived, easing the staff position. H. Meier joined Theiler at Armoedsvlakte whereas M. Zschokke and J.R. Scheuber went to Onderstepoort.
Reports numbers 7-10 which, inter alia, cover the period under discussion, there are papers by Mitchell on ergot poisoning, de Kock on the toxic effect of methylene blue, Green on the fate of arsenic in the animal body and in bacteria, Bedford on Anoplura isolated from South African hosts, Andrews on ‘Staggers’ caused by Matricaria ingestion, and R.W.M. Mettam on malignant catarrhal fever (snotsiekte) in cattle. The period was dominated, however, by the work of Viljoen and Theiler on lamsiekte carried out at Armoedsvlakte.
Theiler reinstated
After being reappointed on 1 April 1920 as Director of Veterinary Research, and now also as Dean of the new Faculty of Veterinary Research, Theiler’s first task was to finalize the arrangements for the accommodation of students. He had submitted a prelimi- nary budget of £190 000 to the authorities which included £175 000 for buildings, £7 000 for equipment and £8 000 for salaries. Initially, he identified five members of his staff for teaching responsibilities: P.J. du Toit (Acting Dean), G.v.d.W. de Kock (Veterinary Anatomy), H.H. Green
(Biochemistry), W.H. Andrews (Physiology), and C.P. Neser (Elementary Veterinary Science). He had convinced the Depart- ment of Agriculture to buy, at a cost of £8 840, two additional pieces of adjacent land in order to accommodate the new buildings. Due to delays in planning and approval of funds, the actual building was delayed until the end of the year, however. On 9 April he officiated at the graduation ceremony of the TUC by delivering an address on the importance of veterinary research for the economic development of South Africa.
As Director he also had to give his attention to emerging disease problems. Complaints were received from Natal and the Eastern Transvaal of recurring outbreaks of ECF and in Natal serious outbreaks of nagana (trypanosomosis) led to the appointment of a commission of enquiry, and the transfer
Trypanosoma congolense in a bovine blood smear
Meanwhile du Toit had informed Theiler by letter that he would be returning to South Africa soon
to take up the position at the University
of Stellenbosch, but expressed the wish to
talk to him before making a final decision.
Soon after, during October, General Smuts
invited Theiler for an interview in Pretoria.
Smuts had been a strong proponent of the
establishment of an independent University
of Pretoria, and probably saw a Veterinary
Faculty under the guidance of Theiler as
a strong supportive action. He offered
Theiler ‘promotion’ to the combined post
of Director and Dean, an offer that he
could not resist. As always he had his
conditions, however. He would stay until
the first batch of students qualified and
insisted that du Toit must be appointed and prepared as his successor. In addition, he required a year’s study leave for himself and his senior staff (Andrews, Robinson and Viljoen) to prepare themselves for their teaching duties. When du Toit visited him during November at Armoedsvlakte, Theiler was therefore in a position to convince him not to accept the position in Stellenbosch in view of the future developments at
14 Onderstepoort.
The news of Theiler’s appointment as Dean of the new
Faculty and that he would resume control of Onderstepoort became known on 2 December 1919 when the Minister of Education, F.S. Malan, formally advised the Transvaal Veteri- nary Medical Association, whose secretary was Mitchell. On the same day du Toit was also informed of his own appointment on 15 December.
In March 1920 Theiler and du Toit moved to Pretoria to finalize arrangements with the TUC for the coming academic year and also to welcome the second batch of Swiss veterinarians, i.e. G.G. Kind and R. Sharrer. At the end of the month Montgomery returned and formally resigned, thus ending his unhappy association with Onderstepoort and paving the way for Theiler’s formal take-over on 1 April. Montgomery returned to East Africa where he took up the position of Director of Veterinary Services for Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika (now Tanzania).
Despite all the turbulence and problems during Mont- gomery’s 18 months of active directorship, significant research results were still produced at Onderstepoort, although somewhat curtailed by the staff shortage. Montgomery did not contribute any publications himself but in the Director’s
“Smuts had been a strong proponent for the establishment of an independent University of Pretoria, and probably saw a Veterinary Faculty under the guidance of Theiler as a strong supportive action.”
PART 1
Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute: General History
1908-2008
Years