author
John Berry Haycraft
1857–1922
A pioneering British physiologist, he is best remembered for discovering hirudin, the anticoagulant in leech saliva, and for helping push medical research forward in the late 19th century. His career took him through Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Cardiff, where he became a prominent teacher and scientific figure.
1 Audiobook
Darwinism and Race Progress
by John Berry Haycraft
About the author
Born in Sussex and baptized in 1857, John Berry Haycraft was a British physician and professor of physiology who built his reputation through careful experimental research. He studied medicine in Edinburgh and became known for investigations into how the body works, especially blood coagulation and the circulation.
His best-known scientific achievement was identifying the powerful anticoagulant produced by medicinal leeches, which he named hirudin. He also held teaching posts at Mason Science College in Birmingham and later at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in Cardiff, where he helped shape physiology teaching and research.
Haycraft was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh early in his career, reflecting the regard in which his work was held. He died in 1922, and he is still remembered as one of the researchers whose laboratory work opened the way for later advances in medicine.