John Newport Langley (2 November 1852 – 5 November 1925) was a British

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

, who made substantive discoveries about the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

and

secretion Secretion is the movement of material from one point to another, such as a secreted chemical substance from a cell or gland. In contrast, excretion is the removal of certain substances or waste products from a cell or organism. The classical mec ...

Life

He was born in

Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in West Berkshire, England, in the valley of the River Kennet. It is south of Oxford, north of Winchester, southeast of Swindon and west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is also where West Berkshire Council is hea ...

the son of John Langley, the local schoolmaster, and his wife, Mary Groom. He was educated at

Exeter Grammar School Exeter School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. The younger year groups are based at Exeter Pre-Prep School in Exminster, which was pr ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. In 1871 he won a place at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, where he graduated MA before continuing multiple postgraduate studies, gaining several doctorates. He spent his entire career at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, beginning as a Demonstrator in lectures in 1875. He began lecturing in Physiology in 1884 and was awarded a professorship in 1903, succeeding Professor Michael Foster. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1883 and later its vice-president. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1916. Langley is known as one of the fathers of the chemical receptor theory, and as the origin of the concept of "receptive substance". In 1901, he advanced research in

neurotransmitter A neurotransmitter is a signaling molecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a Chemical synapse, synapse. The cell receiving the signal, or target cell, may be another neuron, but could also be a gland or muscle cell. Neurotra ...

s and chemical receptors, working with extracts from adrenal glands. These extracts elicited responses in tissues that were similar to those induced by nerve stimulation. He coined the term "

autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system (ANS), sometimes called the visceral nervous system and formerly the vegetative nervous system, is a division of the nervous system that operates viscera, internal organs, smooth muscle and glands. The autonomic nervo ...

" (ANS) in 1898. He was the first person who put forward the concept of

parasympathetic nervous system The parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) is one of the three divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the others being the sympathetic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for regulat ...

as a division of the ANS in 1921. He died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

on 5 November 1925, aged 73.

Publications

*''The Autonomic Nervous System'' (1921) *''Elementary Experimental Physiology''

Recognition

A brass plaque to Langley's memory exists in Trinity College Chapel at Cambridge University.

Family

Langley married at St. Mary′s church, Montrose, on 10 September 1902 Vera Kathleen Forsythe-Grant (d.1932), third daughter of Frederick Grant Forsyth-Grant, of Ecclesgreig,

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area on the ...

References

Bibliography

*Katz, B. (1986). "Archibald Vivian Hill", ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 406 {{DEFAULTSORT:Langley, John Newport 1852 births 1925 deaths Royal Medal winners Fellows of the Royal Society British physiologists People from Newbury, Berkshire Professors of Physiology (Cambridge) Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge The Journal of Physiology editors Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala