OBITUARY NOTICE JAMES DAVIDSON STEEL’ The veterinary profession was deeply saddened by the sudden, untimely death of Professor Steel on 21 December, 1977. Educated at Hurlstone Agricultural High School, New South Wales, and the University of Sydney, he graduated Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1942. It was then that the scars of sporting injuries from his undergraduate days caused medical rejection of his numerous applications for enlistment in the wartime armed services. So he returned to his Alma Mater to teach Veterinary Medicine and develop further his interests in disorders of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. There he was influenced by his mentor, H. B. Parry, in developing physiological bases of Veterinary Medicine for which he was best known. In subsequent years this grew into a lucid, cogent course in medicine for undergraduates. With the re-opening of the Melbourne School of Veterinary Science in 1964 he was appointed to the newly created chair of Veterinary Physiology, and continued his teaching of Physiology, particularly with a view to its clinical applications, until his recent death. He was a persuasive, distinctive teacher and many generations of Australian veterinarians will remember fondly his lectures, practical classes and clinical teaching in veterinary hospitals. Early in his career he received an Animal Health Trust Postgraduate Research Award and spent his sabbatical leave at Newmarket, England. Here his interests in the horse and the heart combined in a paper entitled, ‘The Equine Electrocardiogram with Particular Reference to Certain Anaesthetic Agents’, which he presented to the 14th International Veterinary Congress in London in 1949. It was the forerunner of many, which reached their zenith in his monograph, ‘Studies on the Electrocardiogram of the Racehorse’. Here for the first time were electrocardiographic characteristics and suspected abnormalities. from so extensive a study, related to an animal’s racing capacity or exercise performance under stress. For this work, Steel was awarded the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Science by the University of Sydney in 1964. In years to come he will continue to be known as the pioneer of the Heart Score Concept. He perceived that the muscle mass of the horse’s heart could be estimated from a measurement on the electrocardiogram (the mean QRS duration), and that this had a significant bearing on the horse’s racing potential. After coming to Melbourne, he fostered widet application of the heart score concept by extending his studies to the human athlete and racing greyhound. Since 1968 assessment of heart score has formed part of the regular physiological testing of Olympic athietes in Melbourne. But it was from the horse that his heart score concept ultimately achieved international scientific recognition through conferences and publications. At the time of his death he was working on determining the degree of inheritance of heart score, and had published preliminary reports on these studies. I t was not only in the heart that his research interests lay. He read, investigated and wrote widely on other topics as diverse as neurology, neuro-muscular disorders, animal behaviour, nutrition, haematology, exercise electrocardiography and genetics. In addition to providing contributions to scientific meetings at all levels, local to international, he communicated to and was widely acclaimed by laymen in many countries, but par-
* Prepared forthe Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Melbourne and published in the Melbourne Universty Gazette. Reproduced herewith with kind permission of the Editor of the Gazette and Dean of Veterinary Science.
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ticularly Australia and New Zealand through meetings, his writings and personal discussion. He loved a yarn, and I recall with pleasure his enjoyment of long discussions with horsemen of all kinds - owners, trainers, studmasters, administrators, journalists. Moreover, he was always willing to go out to the field, track or stable to demonstrate the practical application of his research to professionals or laymen. James Steel was a rare blend of scientist, academic, veterinarian and horseman and this combination, in one so nterested in racing, was to provide an individual uniquely perceptive and valuable to both the University and the racing industry. As one of the original committeemen of the Melbourne University Equine Research Fund, since 1965 he played an important role with D. C. Blood and H. J. Nicholas in fostering the expansion of equine research within the Veterinary School. He also promoted the policy that the expansion of equine research should be encouraged throughout Australia and funded through a national body, and since 1974, when the Australian Equine Research Foundation was inaugurated he worked vigorously and closely with its chairman, K. F. Cox. He has been the University’s delegate as a director of the Foundation since its inception, and his contribution as a member of its Executive and Research Advisory Committees also will be greatly missed. In addition to his interest in equine research, Steel served the University and the country in numerous other ways. He was Chairman of the Board of Studies in Physical Education from 1970 to 1972, had been a member of the Pesticides and Agricultural Chemicals Sub-committee of the NH and MRC for several years, and had played key roles in the organisation of t w o large international conferences held at the University, the 9th International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering in 1971, and the XXth World Congress in Sports Medicine in 1974. For the latter congress he was a n executive member and Chairman of the Scientific Programme Committee, and the scientific programme drew praise from experts in many parts of the world. In his professional associations, he was a member of the Australian Veterinary Association throughout his postgraduate life, a foundation member of the Australian Equine Veterinary Association, a former councillor of the Australian Sports Medicine Federation (Vic. Division) and past-president of the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (Victoria). Although Jim Steel influenced the veterinary profession and the University in many ways, it is through his influence on young graduates that that influence will be continued. Over the years they had come to him in all roles junior staff members, post-graduate students, and individuals who just came to work, study and talk with him. In all he encouraged independent thought and powers of perception and criticism so important in a successful graduate. In conversation, research, debate, his attention to precision and detail was occasionally exasperating, rarely confusing, never irrelevant. He would say, ‘Chance favours the prepared mind’, and encourage his students to look for that unexpected turn which, if recognised, might lead to a productive avenue of research. ‘Good research,’ he said, ‘as well as increasing knowledge, poses more questions than it solves.’ And so with his life. He has left us wiser for knowing him, and a legacy impelling us to continue the work. To his wife, Joan, his son, Phillip, and daughters, Jan and Pamela, we extend our deepest sympathies in their grief, and share their loss. (GAS: DCB)
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Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 54, June, 1978
* Prepared forthe Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Melbourne and published in the Melbourne Universty Gazette. Reproduced herewith with kind permission of the Editor of the Gazette and Dean of Veterinary Science.
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ticularly Australia and New Zealand through meetings, his writings and personal discussion. He loved a yarn, and I recall with pleasure his enjoyment of long discussions with horsemen of all kinds - owners, trainers, studmasters, administrators, journalists. Moreover, he was always willing to go out to the field, track or stable to demonstrate the practical application of his research to professionals or laymen. James Steel was a rare blend of scientist, academic, veterinarian and horseman and this combination, in one so nterested in racing, was to provide an individual uniquely perceptive and valuable to both the University and the racing industry. As one of the original committeemen of the Melbourne University Equine Research Fund, since 1965 he played an important role with D. C. Blood and H. J. Nicholas in fostering the expansion of equine research within the Veterinary School. He also promoted the policy that the expansion of equine research should be encouraged throughout Australia and funded through a national body, and since 1974, when the Australian Equine Research Foundation was inaugurated he worked vigorously and closely with its chairman, K. F. Cox. He has been the University’s delegate as a director of the Foundation since its inception, and his contribution as a member of its Executive and Research Advisory Committees also will be greatly missed. In addition to his interest in equine research, Steel served the University and the country in numerous other ways. He was Chairman of the Board of Studies in Physical Education from 1970 to 1972, had been a member of the Pesticides and Agricultural Chemicals Sub-committee of the NH and MRC for several years, and had played key roles in the organisation of t w o large international conferences held at the University, the 9th International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering in 1971, and the XXth World Congress in Sports Medicine in 1974. For the latter congress he was a n executive member and Chairman of the Scientific Programme Committee, and the scientific programme drew praise from experts in many parts of the world. In his professional associations, he was a member of the Australian Veterinary Association throughout his postgraduate life, a foundation member of the Australian Equine Veterinary Association, a former councillor of the Australian Sports Medicine Federation (Vic. Division) and past-president of the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (Victoria). Although Jim Steel influenced the veterinary profession and the University in many ways, it is through his influence on young graduates that that influence will be continued. Over the years they had come to him in all roles junior staff members, post-graduate students, and individuals who just came to work, study and talk with him. In all he encouraged independent thought and powers of perception and criticism so important in a successful graduate. In conversation, research, debate, his attention to precision and detail was occasionally exasperating, rarely confusing, never irrelevant. He would say, ‘Chance favours the prepared mind’, and encourage his students to look for that unexpected turn which, if recognised, might lead to a productive avenue of research. ‘Good research,’ he said, ‘as well as increasing knowledge, poses more questions than it solves.’ And so with his life. He has left us wiser for knowing him, and a legacy impelling us to continue the work. To his wife, Joan, his son, Phillip, and daughters, Jan and Pamela, we extend our deepest sympathies in their grief, and share their loss. (GAS: DCB)
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Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 54, June, 1978
