Page 20 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 1

ONDERSTEPOORT 100
had to consider other options. Fortunately such an opportunity presented itself when he was delegated to attend the Imperial Agricultural Research Conference in London during October of 1927. Theiler had already suggested at an Imperial Con- ference in 1923 that Onderstepoort should be recognized as an Imperial Training Institution for Tropical Veterinary Medicine and at a similar conference in 1926 proposed the establishment of an Imperial Veterinary Information Bureau to act as central office for the distribution of information by means of a newsletter or quarterly journal. He also proposed fellowship and exchange programmes.
In 1927 du Toit enlarged on the theme and proposed the establishment of a ‘Bureau for Tropical Veterinary Science’ at Onderstepoort, the expansion of its library and staff to enable the publishing of a ‘Journal of Tropical Veterinary Science’ and the introduction of a post-graduate course in tropical and subtropical veterinary science for visiting scientists. After 4 weeks of deliberations and visits to important agricultural institutions in the UK, the conference recommended the formation of three agricultural bureaux, respectively for soil science, animal health and animal nutrition, as well as four ‘corresponding bureaux’, all situated in Britain. However, it also recommended that Onderstepoort should be considered by the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) for development into a ‘Central Research Station for Diseases of Animals’ as part of a chain of research stations throughout the British Empire.
In 1928 the Government of the Union of South Africa accepted the recommendation that the facilities of the Onderstepoort laboratory be improved in order to fulfil such a role and approved negotiations with the EMB for funding such improvements. It also approved the organization of a Pan-African Agricultural and Veterinary Congress in Pretoria
20 in 1929, a subscription fee of £1562 towards the Imperial Agricultural Bureaux, as well as the nomination of P.J. du Toit, A.I. Malan and H.O. Mönnig as correspondents for the Bureaux. At the end of 1929 the following grants were approved by the EMB:
The maintenance grant included three fellowships of £1 000 each and research support for the following programmes:
The last three researchers, Alexander, Mason and Riming- ton were newly appointed as holders of the fellowships. At a later stage, in 1931, the appointment of R.J. Ortlepp was also approved as part of the £11 000 grant. Claude Rimington was the only foreigner to apply for a fellowship. His appointment was a direct result of a serious outbreak of geeldikkop (photo- sensitization) in sheep in the Karoo in 1926/27. Du Toit was desperately looking for a biochemist who could study the cause of the disease which was associated with the dubbeltjie plant (Tribulis terrestris). In collaboration with Quin, Rimington identified phylloerythrin, a photodynamic porphyrin, as the cause of photosensitization, but the role of crystalloid material derived from steroidal saponins in T. terrestris in occluding the bile ducts and causing the retention of phylloerythrin was only discovered 50 years later by Kellerman et al. Rimington also iso- lated the toxic principles (icterogenins) from Lippia reh- manni, another plant causing icterus, and studied congenital porphyria in cattle. After returning to Europe in 1937, he became the leading authority on porphyrin metabolism and photosensitization in animals and humans (see also Part 3: Toxicology). In addition to his outstanding capability as a scientist he was also an accomplished linguist speaking French, German, Danish and Norwegian (his wife was Nor- wegian) in addition to his mother tongue and even passed an examination in Afrikaans during his stay in South Africa. He was also a creative artist and wrote both prose and poetry. The following is his poetic description of the porphyrins and their precursors:
The financial support of the Empire Marketing Board thus provided a significant stimulus for the research effort of Onderstepoort during the early 1930s. The new library building, which included a meeting hall, was completed in 1932 and opened on 12 October by the Governor-General in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture. An amount of £13 was approved by Treasury for the provision of refreshments at this momentous occasion! Unfortunately the worldwide depression of 1933 and Britain’s leaving the gold standard led to the early termination of the ambitious programme after only 4 years. Less than half of the promised annual grants were ever paid out but some compensation was received from the South African government, which also approved the permanent appointment of the three remaining fellows following positive reports on their achievements during the first 3 years. Alexander and Ortlepp remained at Onderstepoort for
Porphyrins red as a summer’s rose
With feathered caps and silken hose, Pigments of bile, all burnished gold, Striding their steeds like knights of old. PBG like an eastern King
Wears purple robes and a golden ring But ALA is the risen sun
That tells of a new-born day begun.
£10 000 capital grant for the erection of a new library
£11 000 annual maintenance grant for a period of 5 years
Ectoparasite control (Dipping)
Mineral deficiencies and nutrition
Tsetse fly control East Coast fever Viral diseases Bacterial diseases Toxic plants
H. Graf
A.I.Malan
P.J. du Toit W.O. Neitz R.A. Alexander J.H. Mason
C. Rimington
£2 000
£1000 £1 000 £1 000 £1.000 £1 000 £1 000
PART 1
Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute: General History
1908-2008
Years