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Obituary. 139
? b 11 u a r u
JOHN PARLANE KINLOCH, M.D., D.P.H., M.R.C.P.Ed., Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health for Scotland.
The death of Dr. John Parlane Kinloch, Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health for Scotland, took place suddenly on 31st January, 1932, following a heart seizure. John Parlane Kinloch was born near Dumbarton in 1886.
He received his early education at Glasgow High School.
After studying medicine at the University of Glasgow, he
graduated M.B., Ch.B. in 1909, and subsequently, in 1913, obtained the degree of M.D., with commendation. In 1910
he took the Diploma in Public Health of Cambridge with distinction, and later was admitted to the Membership of the
Koyal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. After holding various resident appointments in Glasgow and London, Dr. Kinloch began his career proper by entering the Glasgow Public Health Department as a pupil assistant. From 1911
till 1914 he was a resident medical officer in Rucliill Fever
Hospital. He was then appointed Deputy Medical Officer of Health for the city of Aberdeen, and his connexion with that
city continued till 19*28, except for a period of service in France
during the war, when he was in charge of a mobile laboratory unit. In 19*23 Dr. Kinloch was made a Eeader in Public
Health in the University of Aberdeen, and in 19*23 (on the
retirement of Professor Matthew Hay) was promoted to be
head of the Public Health Department of the University and Medical Officer of Health to the city. In 19*28, when the
Scottish Board of Health was being prepared for its conversion into the Department of Health for Scotland, Dr. Kinloch was chosen for the responsible position of Chief Medical Officer.
At the beginning of 19*29 he buckled on the harness in which he died.
It is not always wise to attempt a close-range evaluation of a man's life-work. It is notewothy, however, that in the
obituary notices of Dr. Kinloch which have been appearing
140 Obituary.
botli in the lay and in the medical press there is a remarkable
degree of unanimity in the high place accorded to his work in the development of the public health services of the country. Indeed, one might claim him as one of the pioneers of pre- ventive medicine.
During Dr. Kinloch's connexion with Aberdeen his activities were so numerous and varied that even a creditable perform- ance of the routine duties would have merited high praise. Yet during that period, interrupted though it was by the war
years, he evolved and put into practical operation a system of co-ordination of municipal and voluntary hospital services, and of liaison between these services and the medical school
of the University, which provided unique opportunities for
the improvement of treatment, teaching, and research, and
proved the practicability of a reform which was subsequently embodied in the provisions of the Local Government Act of
1929.
At the same time he was carrying out studies of various
aspects of the commoner infections, but more particularly of
their relationship to problems of preventive medicine. Had
he done nothing else during his period of service at Aberdeen, his contributions to our knowledge of scarlet fever, puerperal sepsis, dysentery, food poisoning, and diphtheria immuniza-
tion would have given him a place of importance in contem-
porary medicine.
The scientific foundations of nutrition and the practical application of the results of laboratory studies of normal and abnormal dietary and hygienic conditions in human and animal
physiology and pathology formed a background to Dr. Kinloch's
work, both at Aberdeen and, later, in the national schemes
which he was developing. As an instance of this aspect of his wTork, brief reference may be made to the investigations 011 the effects of adding milk to the diets of school children
which were carried out a few years ago in Scotland. This
work was inspired and, to a large extent, engineered by Dr. Kinloch. It met with considerable opposition, and was
adversely criticized on political, economic, and scientific
grounds; but the real worth of the results of this experiment is now recognized, and those best qualified to judge regard it
as an important contribution to preventive medicine and as a
Obituary, 141
landmark in the development of the science of human and
animal nutrition which is now being pursued so actively in its relation to national welfare.
It is not by recording details, but rather by indicating general principles that one can convey an impression of Dr. Kinloch's work, and no true impression of his work can be
carried away without some reference to the man himself. A
colleague who was in frequent contact with Dr. Kinloch's work at the Department of Health writes :?" He was an Anak in stature, and this, combined with his strong, driving mental
power, made him a commanding and persuasive personality. He has been described as
4
a dreamer of dreams,' but he
endeavoured to materialize them and they did not finish as
dreams do. When his plans were baulked at their initiation
he might express himself strongly on the frustration of the
moment, but it was interesting and fascinating to note how he would take up another line of approach, at first seeming to lead nowhere, yet, as it developed, circumventing the
obstruction. Unfortunately, few of his schemes have yet reached fruition : perhaps their accomplishment must now be
postponed indefinitely. His last, and probably his greatest, plan for the betterment of the children of Scotland was well advanced at the time of his death.
"
One was struck by the affection with which Kinloch
imbued all those who came in contact with him. He showed
no austerity, no superiority to anyone who approached him. He willingly gave ear to any suggestion, and would never turn down a proposition without giving it full consideration." Another tribute to the affection in which Dr. Kinloch was
held is contained in the following appreciation which has been written by one of his staff who was closely associated with
him :? "
The first thought that occurs to one is that if ever a man
inspired loyalty and general affection in his staff that man
was our late Chief Medical Officer. To all who came in
contact with him, even to the lowliest messenger, he was
invariably the very essence of kindness. He had a singularly charming personality. It was amusing to watch someone? of high or low degree?with an appointment at, say, 2.30
P.m., sitting fuming at 3.15. One's amusement lay in the
142 Obituary.
anticipation of what would happen when Dr. K. would
eventually arrive. It was always the same. The door would
be thrust open?a great, commanding figure would stride into the room?that shy, disarming smile?the outstretched hand, and . . .
'
a thousand apologies for keeping you waiting : come
into my room. . . .' Exeunt both?all smiles!
Time meant little or nothing to Dr. Kinloch?nor did
money. With both he was generous to a fault. It was nothing for him to give hours of his valuable time arranging for the
hospital treatment of the wife of one of the clerical officers of the Department. His last day in life was spent in just such a
mission?making arrangements for the reception into hospital of an old friend.
"
Anyone could come to him for advice or help?he was most approachable; but, brilliant man as he was, he was a
veritable child in the ways of the world. So far as money was
concerned, no pleader of any cause, deserving or otherwise, ever went away empty-handed.
"
What made him so human and understanding was the
knowledge of his own shortcomings. "
He seemed a lonely figure. His one hobby in life, his
work : his only exercise a long country walk during which
that hive of activity, his mind, would be still turning over the
problems he had to solve : his only relaxation thrilling mystery stories, of which he was a voracious reader. There is no
doubt, however, that in his work he found great happiness." One may sum up the character of John Parlane Kinloch
in
the words of Sir Walter Fletcher, who recently wrote in the
columns of The British Medical Journal :?" If I had to judge the qualities that gave Dr. Kinloch his power, I should say that they were of two opposite kinds. On the one hand, he
was a man of sensibility and poetic imagination ; though he
made no sentimental talk about it, it was easy to see that he
keenly desired to serve his generation, and of his future service
he saw visions and dreamed dreams. On the other hand, he
combined with this largeness of view a close attention to
scientific and professional detail. . . . He was quick, as he
saw the drift of newT work, to look for its bearing upon his
practical problems. It was thus that he gained his wide and
clear vision. . . ,
Obituary. 143
Between the stage of biological discovery and that of its
practical application in human affairs, whether in medicine or in agriculture, there is a
'
buffer '
territory across which the scientific administrator, on the one hand, must join hands with the scientific worker on the other. In preventive medicine, as in industrial work, there is a difficult stage of transition from the small-scale processes of the laboratory to the large-scale processes of practical life. Dr. Kinloch realized this to the
full. He was always ready to co-operate intimately with the scientific workers, and, when opportunity came, he was quick to help in the stage of large-scale trials that make the bridge between discovery and effective use. It was chiefly, I think, because of this that, while at Aberdeen, he became so often a leader and pioneer for all Britain."