SIR FREDERICK BANTING:

ERICK BANTING was tall

Portrait great Canadian

and lanky. He was born in
1891 near Alliston, Ont., on the
farm of his parents, Wesleyan
Methodists by religion. He en-
rolled at the University of Tor-
Onto intending to take up the
Ministry, but his first year at
College severely tested his early
fundamentalist conceptions and
on returning home at the Christ-
Mas holidays he announced to his
family his decision to abandon
Teligious studies.

He was just an average student.
Learning did not come easy to
him and he was so discouraged
at one stage that he almost gave
Up the quest for education. Years
later when asked what type of
Studerit he would choose as a
research worker he replied: One
Who gets high marks in a couple
of subjects and only fair in all
Others. As he explained, a photo-
Sraphic mind learns easily but
also forgets just as easily.

He entered medical college at
Toronto in 1913, worked harder

_ than most students, found his
Studies an absorbing delight,
Scorned subterfuge such as “cook-
ing” laboratory reports but rath-
er worked harder to obtain cor-
rect answers himself. His notes
Show he was exacting and pains-
taking.

In March 1915, he enlisted in
the Royal Canadian Army Corps
as a private and was promoted
to sergeant a few months later.
Then he was ordered back to
Toronto to continue his medical
Studies. A year later, in Decem-
ber 1916, he enlisted as a fully
Qualified doctor with the rank of
lieutenant and soon was promot~
ed to a captaincy.

He was severely wounded in
September 1918, but continued
to attend wounded soldiers for
Many hours. Back in hospital in
England he hovered between life
and death. The commanding
Colonel decided that amputation
of the arm would be necessary
to save his life. Banting refused
and gave orders that even if he
became unconscious, the limb
Was not to be amputated.

Finally his life and limb were
Saved, he was awarded the Mili-
tary Cross and discharged from
the ‘army in September 1919. —

Then he began to plan his
Medical future.

He was appointed resident sur-
Zeon at Christie Street Veterans
Hospital, Toronto and was asso-
Ciate at the Sick Children’s Hos-
pital where his story telling
made him a favorite with his
young patients. :

Later he settled down in Lon-
don, Ont., but unfortunately the
Patients did not show up and his
cash receipts for the first month
Were $4.

Then he was appointed instruc-
tor in anatomy and physiology at
Western University. Preparations
for lectures compelled him to
Consult professional journals and
medical works.

On the evening of October 30, :

1920, Dr. Banting settled down
among his books to prepare 4
lecture for the following day.
The subject had no special in-
terest for him as it was purely
‘medical and his own leanings
were toward surgery. He drew
a sheet of paper from the drawer
and wrote the title of the lecture
at the top of the page.

The word he had written down
Was “Diabetes.”

Stated briefly, the lecture ex-
plained that in this malady the
liver failed to convert glucose
to glycogen, the former being
lost to the body in the urine so
that the victim, losing strength
and weight, succumbed. _ The

EBM)

Banting’s interests extended beyond medicine to music, painting, literature. He was a close friend of A. Y. Jackson,
the famous Canadian painter and member of the Group of Seven, with whom he travelled to the Arctic. He complained
to the authorities about the bad treatment of the Eskimos and his charges made the basis of a government investigation which
led to improvements in medical treatment of the Eskimos.

cause and cure were a mystery.

An experiment in 1889 had
shown that removal of the diges-
tive organ, the pancreas, In anl-
mals, ae followed by fatal dia-
betes. However, if instead of
removal, the ducts conveying its
digestive juices to the intestines
were tied, then although the ani-
mal died in six to eight weeks,
diabetes did not develop. This
indicated the dual nature of the
organ and it became apparent
that. the observed little patches
of tissue scattered throughout
the pancreas known as the Islands
of Langerhans had something to
do with diabetes, that it was
they that secreted the hormone
necessary for sugar metabolism.

The treatment of diabetes now
took a new turn; but unfortun-
ately feeding the gland, the pan-
creas, did not cure the patient
and injections of extracts of it
were followed by alarming re-
sults.

The notes for his lecture fin-

ished he retire, but he was so.

intrigued over the subject that
he got out of bed at 2 a.m. and
jotted down in his note book.

“Tie the ducts (of the organ)
wait six to eight weeks, then
extract.”

He now visited the libraries
and read extensively on the sub-
ject and became convinced that
if given research facilities he
could solve the mystery.

He interviewed the dean of
the University of Western On-
tario at London, offered to work
without remuneration and if suc-

HY UL SVL AA OM ORUREADRESAG DICE UDA

cessful to give the credit to the
institution if he were given a
laboratory.

Sceptically the dean listened,
but in the end refused, referring
him to Professor MacLeod of the
University of Toronto, himself
author of several works on the
subject and an accepted authori-
ty. maa

Banting came to Toronto where
he saw the great professor who
listened doubtless with more im-
patience than interest, then dis-
missed the young man, promising
to think it over and let him know.

Friends both lay and medical
advised him to get back to Lon-
don and settle down in practice.
But with each setback he became
more determined. His determin-
ation lost him his fiancee at Lon-
don who did not wish to become
“a Marie Curie.” He sold house
and stake there, came to Toronto
again, and sought Professor Mac-
Leod. ;
Worn down, MacLeod relented.
He promised a laboratory, 10 dogs
and an assistant, but only for
eight weeks. The -assistant was
none other than an erfthusiastic,
capable 28-year-old youth, Charles

Best.
*

Work commenced in May 1921.
Best marvelled at the surgical
dexterity of his senior as the
ducts were tied. Seven weeks
later when Banting calculated the
pancreas of the experimental
animals would have degenerated,
the dogs were chloroformed,
opened and examined. To the

LT

utter dismay of the two men the
organs, far from swelling up,
looked perfectly. healthy.

They were back where they
started and only a week of the
eight remained. Banting quick-
ly discovered the reason. The
ducts were tied too tightly and
nature soon healed the damage.

Work was started all _ over
again, with Banting and Best de-
termined to resist an attempt
to terminate their experiment at
the end of the allotted eight
weeks. Fortunately Professor
MacLeod was in Europe and ap-
parently forgot about Banting.

The revised technique on the
animals proved successful. The
extract was obtained and admin-
istered to a dog dying from ex-
perimental diabetes, and it was
kept alive for 24 hours. The sec-
ond animal was kept alive for 20
days.

The next step. Would the ex-
tract from another species save
the animals?

This was answered in the affir-
mative when it was found that
the extract from foetal calves
pancreas was equally effective
and furthermore was more plen-
tiful.

Finally, a more plentiful sup-
ply was obtained from adult beef
pancreas and a new extraction
technique evolved.

In. December 1921 the pair
packed their bags and reported
their findings to the medical con-
vention at New Haven, Connec-
ticut. The august assembly was
impressed. But could Isletin, as

the new extract was called, be
administered to humans?

In Toronto General Hospital a
12-year-old vouth was dying with
the disease. Isletin was given
but with no observed immediate
benefit. . (Later the name was
changed to Insulin on the insti-
gation of Prof. MacLeed.)

Another dying victim present-
ed himself, demanded treatment
—Dr. Joseph Gilchrist, on the
staff of the hospital. Following
the injection Banting and Best
waited two hours but nothing
happened and the doctor stag-
gered home to die.

Discouraged, Best wandered to
his room and Banting packed his
bag and took the train home to
Alliston.

But on his way home Dr. Gil-
christ noticed his head clearer
than in months, the drag was
leaving his feet. He ate the best
supper in years. People stared
at the grinning man and the sen-
tence of death was lifted.

He rushed to report to Best.
Banting was reached by long dis-
tance telephone and returned im-
mediately to Toronto. News from
the hospital was that the dying
youth was now responding well
and on the road to recovery.
Then another and a third at the
hospital réported the miracle had
worked.

The experimenters now wrote
an article in the Medical Journal
entitled: “The Effects Observed

CONCLUDED ON NEXT PAGE

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — OCTOBER 29, 1954 — PAGE 9