Gerald Francis Yeo (19 January 1845 – 1 May 1909) was an Irish physiologist and academic.

Life

Born in Dublin on 19 January 1845, he was second son of Henry Yeo of Tansey, Ceanchor Road,

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...

, J.P., clerk of the rules, court of exchequer, by his wife Jane, daughter of Captain Ferns. Yeo was educated at the Royal School Dungannon, and at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where he graduated moderator in natural science in 1866, proceeding M.B. and M.Ch. in 1867. In 1868 he gained the gold medal of the Dublin Pathological Society for an essay on renal disease. After studying abroad for three years, a year each in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, he proceeded M.D. at Dublin in 1871, and became next year M.R.C.P. and M.R.C.S. Ireland. For two years Yeo taught physiology in the Carmichael school of medicine in Dublin. He was appointed professor of physiology in King's College London, in 1875, and in 1877 assistant surgeon to

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed b ...

, becoming F.R.C.S.England in 1878. He delivered for the College of Surgeons the Arris and Gale lectures on anatomy and physiology in 1880–2. With

Hugo Kronecker Karl Hugo Kronecker (27 January 1839 – 6 June 1914) was a German physiologist from Liegnitz, Prussian Silesia. He was the brother of Leopold Kronecker. He studied medicine in Berlin, Heidelberg and Pisa, and received the M.D. degree in Be ...

, Yeo inaugurated the triennial international physiological congresses; the first met at

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

in 1889, and was organised by Yeo with Michael Foster. Yeo was elected

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

in 1889. He resigned his chair of physiology at King's College in 1890 and received the title of emeritus professor. He then retired to

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, and later to Fowey, where he devoted himself to yachting, fishing, and gardening. He died at Austin's Close, Harbertonford, Devon, on 1 May 1909.

Works

Yeo worked with

David Ferrier Sir David Ferrier FRS (13 January 1843 – 19 March 1928) was a pioneering Scottish neurologist and psychologist. Ferrier conducted experiments on the brains of animals such as monkeys and in 1881 became the first scientist to be prosecuted ...

, a fellow professor of neuro-pathology at King's College, on cerebral localisation in monkeys. They exhibited a

hemiplegic Hemiparesis, or unilateral paresis, is weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia is, in its most severe form, complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medic ...

monkey at the first International Physiological Congress. This work proceeded against a background of

antivivisection Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

activism. Yeo was known from 1875 as the first secretary of

The Physiological Society The Physiological Society, founded in 1876, is a learned society for physiologists in the United Kingdom. History The Physiological Society was founded in 1876 as a dining society "for mutual benefit and protection" by a group of 19 physiologis ...

, originally a dining club, but with a purpose of thwarting antivivisection campaigners; he resigned in 1889. Ferrier did not have a license under the

Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 The Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 ( 39 & 40 Vict. c. 77.) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which set limits on the practice of, and instituted a licensing system for animal experimentation, amending the Cruelty to Animals Act 1 ...

to perform animal experiments, and Yeo did the practical work. Ferrier was taken to court under the Act in 1881, but was acquitted, having testified that he only witnessed procedures carried out by Yeo. Yeo's ''Manual of Physiology for the Use of Students of Medicine'' (1884; 6th edit. 1894) was a text-book. He contributed scientific papers to the ''Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society'' and to the ''Journal of Physiology''.

Family

Yeo married (1) in 1873 Charlotte, only daughter of Isaac Kitchin of Rockferry, Cheshire (she died without issue in 1884); (2) in 1886 Augusta Frances, second daughter of Edward Hunt of Thomastown, co. Kilkenny, by whom he had one son.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeo, Gerald Francis 1845 births 1909 deaths Academics of King's College London Irish physiologists Scientists from County Dublin Fellows of the Royal Society People from Howth People educated at the Royal School Dungannon Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Medical doctors from County Dublin