Joseph Edwin Barnard

{{Short description|British scientist (1868/70–1949)}} thumb|right|Barnard in 1926. '''Joseph Edwin Barnard'''{{efn|He usually published as J. E. Barnard, occasionally as J. Edwin Barnard;<ref name=BMJ_1912 /> some literature refers to him as Edwin Barnard.<ref name=Rowlinson />}} (7 December 1868/70 – 25 October 1949) was a British microscopist and businessman known for his refinements to the ultraviolet microscope and for taking early photomicrographs of viruses, including ectromelia virus, foot-and-mouth disease virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. In a widely publicised paper of 1925 he published images of supposed viruses isolated from various avian and mammalian tumours, but the results could not be replicated by others and he did not publish on the topic again. He headed the department of applied optics at the National Institute for Medical Research on an honorary part-time basis, while carrying out his business as a hatter, from 1920 until his retirement during the Second World War. He was an elected fellow of the Institute of Physics (1923) and the Royal Society (1924), and an honorary member of the Royal Microscopical Society (1948), of which he was president three times. His ''Practical Photo-micrography'' (1911) was a standard textbook in the field.

==Education and career== Barnard was born on 7 December in either 1868<ref name=ODNB /> or 1870<ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=RSoc_obit /> in Pimlico, London, to Elizabeth Phillips (''née'' Jacob) and Walter Barnard, a London hatter with a shop on Jermyn Street.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit />{{efn|His obituary for the Royal Society gives his father's name as J. Barnard.<ref name=RSoc_obit />}} He attended the City of London School, where he was head boy, until he was sixteen, when he joined the family business. It was a profitable enterprise, and towards the end of the century he had both the leisure and the means to pursue his early interest in microscopy and taking photomicrographs, equipping a laboratory at his house.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /> He was elected a fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society in 1895,<ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=RSoc_obit /> exhibited at a Royal Society ''conversazione'' in 1897, and published his first research papers the following year.<ref name=Rowlinson /><ref name=JRMS_obit /> From around 1899, he worked part-time at the Jenner Institute for Preventive Medicine (later the Lister Institute).<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /> He held an honorary lecturership in microscopy at King's College, London in 1909–25.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit />

During the First World War, as part of his work for the War Office's Trench Fever Committee (from around 1916), he personally equipped a laboratory at Charing Cross Hospital Medical School, later gaining an assistant, Frank V. Welch, who became a long-term collaborator. In 1920, Barnard became head of the new department of applied optics at the National Institute for Medical Research in Hampstead (briefly later at Mill Hill), a post he held until retirement due to ill health during the Second World War.<ref name=JRMS_obit /> He worked part-time on a volunteer basis, with only an honorarium towards his expenses, and continued to pursue his hatmaking business;<ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /> W. J. Purdy speculates that this was to maintain his ability to direct his own research.<ref name=BMJ_obit /> Barnard's collaborators included Welch, John Smiles<ref name=JRMS_obit /> and W. E. Gye.<ref name=BMJ_obit />

==Research== ===Technological work=== Barnard worked for many years, from around 1912, on improving the ultraviolet microscope.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=RSoc_obit /> This had been invented by August Köhler and Moritz von Rohr at the Carl Zeiss company in Germay in 1903,<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Martin_1940 /> and the following year Köhler and von Rohr published a paper on taking photomicrographs using ultraviolet microscopy.<ref name=JRMS_obit /> Ultraviolet, with its shorter wavelength than visible light, has the potential to improve resolution,<ref name=JRMS_obit /> but the original microscope had been little used.<ref name=Martin_1940 /> Barnard invented the duplex condenser to replace the original fluorescent screen in 1924, allowing the use of both visible light (from a mercury-vapour lamp) and ultraviolet light (originally from a cadmium spark, and later also from a mercury-vapour lamp), and later invented a way of switching between objectives designed for the two light sources.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=RSoc_obit /> This allowed the microscope to be focused in the normal fashion using light, and then photomicrographs to be taken using ultraviolet. J. A. Murray, in his obituary for the Royal Society, calls this innovation a "revolution in this field of microscopy" facilitating the production of "accurate, sharp images".<ref name=RSoc_obit /> In 1930 Barnard designed, with Smiles, a cone condenser or cone illuminator permitting dark-ground photomicrographs using ultraviolet.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /> An ultraviolet microscope of his design was sold by Conrad Beck from 1929.<ref name=ODNB /> Barnard's modifications were described in 1940 as rendering taking photomicrographs using ultraviolet "relatively easy".<ref name=Martin_1940 /> In addition to the increased resolution, ultraviolet microscopy had the advantage of allowing living bacteria and eukaryotic cells to be observed and photographed, without needing to use stains (which killed the cells).<ref name=BMJ_obit /><ref name=Whipple />

He earlier invented a photomicrographic device for use with standard optical microscopes, completed in 1911 and manufactured commercially.<ref name=JRMS_obit /> He also invented a grinding apparatus in 1911 that allowed bacteria and tissue to be broken up without needing to use chemicals or abrasive materials, which could be used for making bacterial endotoxin preparations.<ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=Hewlett />

===Biological research=== Barnard's early biological publications were on bioluminescence in bacteria.<ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=BMJ_1901 /> From 1916 he studied trench fever, now known to be a bacterial disease, using ultraviolet microscopy, observing particles in serum samples that he believed to represent the causative organism.<ref name=JRMS_obit /> He photographed the causative agent of bovine pleuropneumonia, a small bacterium (''Mycoplasma mycoides'') then considered to be an organism intermediate between viruses and bacteria.<ref name=RSoc_obit /> From 1936 he studied fluorescence in micro-organisms under ultraviolet light.<ref name=JRMS_obit />

From 1920 he studied "filterable viruses",<ref name=JRMS_obit /> which were then poorly understood.<ref name=Sankaran /> He demonstrated with ultraviolet microscopy that some infectious agents that passed through bacteria-retaining filters could be visualised microscopically,<ref name=JRMS_obit /> so demonstrating that these agents are simply small micro-organisms.<ref name=BMJ_obit /> He photographed the inclusion bodies in cells infected with ectromelia virus, a poxvirus of mice, and showed that they contained particles similar to the infectious agent.<ref name=JRMS_obit /> He also photographed many other viruses including foot-and-mouth disease virus and vesicular stomatitis virus.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=RSoc_obit /> In 1925 he published a paper in ''The Lancet'' purporting to show viruses derived from tumours of chickens and mammals, in association with another paper in the same journal by W. E. Gye; both built on earlier research by the American researcher Peyton Rous.<ref name=Andrewes /><ref name=Bulloch /> The general opinion of the scientific community at this date was hostile to the notion that cancer could be caused by viruses or other infectious agents.<ref name=Sankaran /> The two papers were widely reported{{efn|For example, ''Current History'',<ref name=Davis /> ''Nature'',<ref name=Bulloch /> ''New York Times'',<ref name=NYT_1925 /> ''Popular Science Monthly'',<ref name=Vischer /> ''Science'',<ref name=Science_1925 /> ''Scientific American''<ref name=SciAm_1925 /> and ''The Times''<ref name=Times_1925 />}} and generated considerable public interest,<ref name=Vischer /><ref name=Times_obit /> but subsequent research failed to replicate their results,<ref name=Science_1926 /><ref name=Science_1930 /> and Barnard did not pursue this line of research further.<ref name=Andrewes />

He also initiated work on using standardised collodion membranes with known pore sizes to investigate viruses and other micro-organisms by filtration, later carried out in his department by W. J. Elford.<ref name=JRMS_obit />

==Writing== He published ''Practical Photo-micrography'' in 1911, which became a standard textbook;<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=Times_obit /> two subsequent editions, co-authored with Welch, came out in 1925 and 1936.<ref name=JRMS_obit />

==Awards and societies== Barnard was an elected fellow of the Institute of Physics (1923) and of the Royal Society (1924),<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=RSoc_obit /> and an honorary member of the Royal Microscopical Society (1948), of which he was president three times (1918–19, 1928–29 and 1938–45). He was a founder member of the Photomicrographic Society, twice served as its president (1915–16 and 1920–21), and gave a medal which bore his name.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit />

==Personal life== Barnard was married twice. In 1894 he married Amelia Muir Cunningham Burge (1867/8–1923), whose father was a hatter. After her death he married Daisy Fisher{{efn|His obituary for the Royal Society gives his second wife's maiden name as Welch.<ref name=RSoc_obit />}} (born 1892/3), whose father worked in the sheet metal industry, in 1924; they had a daughter and a son.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=RSoc_obit /> His recreations included photography and playing the organ.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=JRMS_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit />

He died on 25 October 1949 at Addiscombe in Surrey.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=BMJ_obit />

==Selected publications== ;Book *''Practical Photo-micrography'' (Edward Arnold; 1911,<ref name=Nature_1911 /><ref name=BMJ_1912 /> 1925,<ref name=TransAMS_1926 /><ref name=SciProg_1926 /><ref name=Nature_1927 /> 1936;<ref name=BMJ_1936 /><ref name=QRevBiol_1937 /><ref name=SciProg_1937 /> later editions co-authored with Frank V. Welch) ;Research papers *J. E. Barnard (1931). The causative organism in infectious ectromelia. ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences'' 109 (763): 360–74 <small>{{doi|10.1098/rspb.1931.0088}}</small><!--cited 84 times in Google Scholar--> *J. E. Barnard (1925). The microscopical examination of filterable viruses: associated with malignant new growths. ''The Lancet'' 206 (5316): 117–23 <small>{{doi|10.1016/S0140-6736(01)17183-7}}</small><!--cited 41 times in Google Scholar-->

==References and notes== {{noteslist}} <references>

<ref name=Andrewes>C. H. Andrewes (1953). William Ewart Gye. 1884–1952. ''Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society'' 8 (22): 418–30 {{jstor|769220}}</ref>

<ref name=BMJ_1901>Science Notes. ''British Medical Journal'' 2 (2121): 481–82 (1901) {{jstor|20269314}}</ref>

<ref name=BMJ_1912>Photomicrography. ''British Medical Journal'' 1 (2670): 496 (1912) {{jstor|25296272}}</ref>

<ref name=BMJ_1936>Notes On Books. ''British Medical Journal'' 2 (3964): 1313 (1936) {{jstor|25355154}}</ref>

<ref name=BMJ_obit>J. E. Barnard, F.R.S. ''British Medical Journal'' 2 (4635): 1053–54 (1949) {{jstor|25374061}}</ref>

<ref name=Bulloch>William Bulloch (1925). Recent Researches on the Causation of Tumours. ''Nature'' 116: 141–43 {{doi|10.1038/116141a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Davis>Watson Davis (1925). Cancer Still Unconquered by Science. ''Current History'' 22 (6): 963–64 {{jstor|45330379}}</ref>

<ref name=Hewlett>R. Tanner Hewlett (1922). Machine for crushing germs. ''British Medical Journal'' 1 (3205): 902 {{jstor|20420187}}</ref>

<ref name=JRMS_obit>W. J. P. (1951). Joseph Edwin Barnard, F.R.S. ''Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society'' 71 (1): 104–13 {{doi|10.1111/j.1365-2818.1951.tb01956.x}}</ref>

<ref name=Martin_1940>L. C. Martin (1940). Ultra-Violet and Electron Microscopy. ''Nature'' 146: 288–92 {{doi|10.1038/146288a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_1911>Review: ''Practical Photomicrography''. ''Nature'' 87: 309–10 (1911) {{doi|10.1038/087309a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_1927>Review: ''Practical Photo-Micrography''. ''Nature'' 119: 313 (1927) {{doi|10.1038/119313c0}}</ref>

<ref name=NYT_1925>Edwin L. James (14 July 1925). Hobby of a Hatter Made It Possible To See Cancer Germ: J.E. Barnard, in "Leisure" Moments Expert in Microscopy, Aided British Scientists. ''New York Times'', pp. 1, 4</ref>

<ref name=ODNB>G. L'E. Turner (2004). Barnard, Joseph Edwin. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press) {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/37156}}</ref>

<ref name=QRevBiol_1937>Review: ''Practical Photo-Micrography''. ''The Quarterly Review of Biology'' 12 (2): 216 (1937) {{jstor|2808494}}</ref>

<ref name=Rowlinson>J. S. Rowlinson (2006). Dr. Thomas Carver and Lord Kelvin. ''Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London'' 60 (2): 161–70 {{jstor|20462572}}</ref>

<ref name=RSoc_obit>J. A. Murray (1950). Joseph Edwin Barnard. 1870–1949. ''Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society'' 7 (19): 2–8 {{jstor|768776}}</ref>

<ref name=Sankaran>Neeraja Sankaran, Ton van Helvoort (2016). Andrewes's Christmas fairy tale: Atypical thinking about cancer aetiology in 1935. ''Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London'' 70 (2): 175–201 {{jstor|26312863}}</ref>

<ref name=SciAm_1925>Light at last on cancer. ''Scientific American'' 133 (4): 228 (1925) {{jstor|24979075}}</ref>

<ref name=Science_1925>The organism causing cancer. ''Science'' 62 (1595): viii (1925) {{jstor|1648883}}</ref>

<ref name=Science_1926>The germ theory of cancer. ''Science'' 63 (1635): xii, xiv (1926) {{jstor|1650637}}</ref>

<ref name=Science_1930>Science News. ''Science'' 72 (1854): x, xii, xiv (1930) {{jstor|1656023}}</ref>

<ref name=SciProg_1926>E. M. C. (1926). Review: ''Practical Photo-micrography''. ''Science Progress'' 1 (82): 366 {{jstor|43430396}}</ref>

<ref name=SciProg_1937>F. W. J. (1937). Review: ''Practical Photomicrography''. ''Science Progress'' 31 (124): 786 {{jstor|43412003}}</ref>

<ref name=Times_1925>Cancer germ. The reported discovery. ''The Times'' (44013), p. 14 (14 July 1925)</ref>

<ref name=Times_obit>Mr. J. E. Barnard. ''The Times'' (51522), p. 7 (26 October 1949)</ref>

<ref name=TransAMS_1926>Review: ''Practical Photo-Micrography''. ''Transactions of the American Microscopical Society'' 45 (2): 149 (1926) {{jstor|3221806}}</ref>

<ref name=Vischer>Peter Vischer (October 1925). [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0CcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14 A romance of the microscope]. ''Popular Science Monthly'', pp. 13–14</ref>

<ref name=Whipple>Robert S. Whipple (1939). Instruments in Science and Industry. ''Nature'' 144: 461–65 {{doi|10.1038/144461a0}}</ref>

</references> {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnard, Joseph Edwin}} Category:1868 births Category:1870 births<!--sources differ on year of birth--> Category:1949 deaths Category:People from Pimlico Category:People educated at the City of London School Category:Microscopists Category:British virologists Category:British bacteriologists Category:British hatters and milliners Category:English science writers Category:British fellows of the Royal Society Category:Fellows of the Institute of Physics Category:Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society Category:Honorary Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society