Sir Leonard Rogers (18 January 1868 – 16 September 1962) was a founder member of the

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, more commonly known by its acronym RSTMH, was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President (1907–1909), was recognised as ...

, and its President from 1933 to 1935.

Biography

Rogers studied at

Plymouth College Plymouth College is a co-educational private school in Plymouth, Devon. History The school was established in 1877. In 1896 Plymouth College bought Mannamead School (founded in 1854), and was temporarily known as Plymouth and Mannamead Colleg ...

and worked at St Mary’s Hospital. He qualified M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. (1891) F.R.C.S. (1892) in London. Rogers had a wide range of interests in

tropical medicine Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions. Physicians in this field diagnose and tr ...

, from the study of

kala-azar Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. Leishmaniasi ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

s to

sea snake Sea snakes, or coral reef snakes, are Elapidae, elapid snakes that inhabit Marine (ocean), marine environments for most or all of their lives. They belong to two subfamilies, Hydrophiinae and Sea krait, Laticaudinae. Hydrophiinae also includes ...

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

s, but is best known for pioneering the treatment of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

with

hypertonic In chemical biology, tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient; the water potential of two solutions separated by a partially-permeable cell membrane. Tonicity depends on the relative concentration of selective membran ...

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

, which has saved a multitude of lives. He also championed Indian

chaulmoogra oil ''Hydnocarpus pentandrus'' (previously ''Hydnocarpus wightianus'') or chaulmoogra is a medium-sized tree in the family Achariaceae. This dioecious tree grows up to 10m height, in moist deciduous forests of Western Ghats in India. ''Hydnocarpus ...

as a treatment for

Hansen's disease Monster Beverage Corporation is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless (drink), Relentless, Reign (drink), Reign and Burn (energy drink), Burn. The company was originally founded as Ha ...

(leprosy). Rogers was one of the pioneers in setting up the

Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine (CSTM) is a medical institute from Kolkata, India, dedicated in the field of tropical disease. It was established in 1914 by Leonard Rogers (1868–1962) of the Indian Medical Service, professor of pathology ...

(CSTM) in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1929, Rogers was awarded the

Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh The Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh is awarded by the University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine to a person who has made any highly important and v ...

. He was president of the 1919 session of the

Indian Science Congress Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Calcutta and it meets annually in the first week of January. It h ...

Vivisection

Rogers defended

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal test ...

and criticized the arguments of the anti-vivisection movement. He authored a book, ''The Truth about Vivisection'' in 1937. He was honorary treasurer of the

Research Defence Society The Research Defence Society was a British scientific society and lobby group founded by Stephen Paget in 1908 to fight against the anti-vivisectionist "enemies of reason" at the beginning of the 20th century. At the end of 2008, after being ac ...

. Rogers played a leading part in obtaining a ruling from the High Court sustained by the Appeal Court and House of Lords that anti-vivisection organizations can not be regarded as charities.

Selected publications

* . * . * . * . * . * , with Ernest Muir.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Leonard 1868 births 1962 deaths 19th-century English medical doctors 20th-century English medical doctors British parasitologists British people in colonial India Fellows of the Royal Society Founders of Indian schools and colleges Indian Medical Service officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Manson medal winners People educated at Plymouth College People from Helston Presidents of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Presidents of The Asiatic Society Vivisection activists