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."