John McDougal Russell Greig CBE

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

MRCVS (September 1889-1 May 1963) was a Scottish veterinarian who was Director of the

Moredun Research Institute The Moredun Research Institute is a scientific research institution based at the Pentlands Science Park, in the Bush Estate area of Midlothian, Scotland. It conducts research into diseases of farm livestock and the promotion of animal health and ...

from 1930 to 1954. He is noted for the development of several important animal vaccines:

Enzootic Enzootic is the non-human equivalent of endemic and means, in a broad sense, "belonging to" or "native to", "characteristic of", or "prevalent in" a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; native to an area or scope. It also has t ...

abortion in ewes;

Braxy Braxy is an infectious disease which causes sudden death in sheep. It is caused by the bacterium ''Clostridium septicum''. Braxy generally occurs in winter, when sheep eat frosted root crops, or frosted grass. The frozen feed damages the mucosa (l ...

and

Louping ill Louping-ill () is an acute viral disease primarily of sheep that is characterized by a biphasic fever, depression, ataxia, muscular incoordination, tremors, posterior paralysis, coma, and death. Louping-ill is a tick-transmitted disease whose occu ...

. His work on milk effectively created "clean milk" for the first time in Britain.

Life

He was born in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

on 8 September 1889 the son of William Carmichael Greig (1851-1929), a grocer, and his wife Mary McDougal (1852-1934). They lived in a second floor flat at 101 Ferry Road, which was then just newly built. He was educated at the Royal High School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In 1906 he entered the

Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, commonly referred to as the Dick Vet, is the veterinary school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine the head of which is Moira Why ...

. He completed his studies in 1911 and was admitted a member of the

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the v ...

. He then began working in the Veterinary Department of the City of Glasgow. He self-financed a trip to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

to meet Bernhard Bang and learn of his studies on bovine tuberculosis. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served as a Captain in the

Royal Army Veterinary Corps The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), known as the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until it gained the royal prefix on 27 November 1918, is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and ca ...

. On demob he joined the Department of Agriculture and was posted to South Wales to tackle a

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vi ...

outbreak, gaining him the nickname "Rabies Russell". In September 1919 he was appointed Professor of Materia Medica at his alma mater, the Royal Dick College in Edinburgh. He was granted a doctorate (PhD) from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1929, for his thesis ''Acute calcium deficiency in relation to disease in farm animals, with special reference to milk fever in cows''. In 1931 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

. His proposers were

Francis Albert Eley Crew Francis Albert Eley Crew FRS FRSE LLD (2 March 1886 – 26 May 1973) was an English animal geneticist. He was a pioneer in his field leading to the University of Edinburgh’s place as a world leader in the science of animal genetics. He was t ...

James Hartley Ashworth James Hartley Ashworth FRS FRSE DSc SZS (2 May 1874 – 4 February 1936) was a British marine zoologist. Life See He was born on 2, May 1874, in Accrington in Lancashire, the only son of James Ashworth. He spent most of his early life in Bu ...

, Sir

William Wright Smith Sir William Wright Smith FRS FRSE FLS VMH LLD (2 February 1875 Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire – 15 December 1956) was a Scottish botanist and horticulturalist. Life He was born at Parkend farm near Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire, the son of James T. ...

, and

Henry Dryerre Prof Henry Dryerre FRSE MRCS LRCP (1881–5 February 1959) was a Scottish veterinarian and animal physiologist. He was Emeritus Professor of Physiology at the Dick Veterinary College in Edinburgh. The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Sco ...

. He was awarded the Society's

Neill Prize The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

for 1949-51. In 1946 he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He retired in 1954 and was succeeded by

John Trevor Stamp John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

.Independent (newspaper) obituary of J T Stamp, 12 December 1996 He died in Edinburgh on 1 May 1963. He was buried with his parents in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

. The relatively small marble stone lies on the south side of the path linking the main western path to the central roundel.

Publications

* * *''The Nature of Lambing Sickness'' (1929) * * *''The Shepherd's Guide'' (1951) *'' Grieg and his Scottish Ancestry'' (1953) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greig, John Russell Scottish veterinarians Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1889 births 1963 deaths People from Leith People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Health professionals from Edinburgh Royal Army Veterinary Corps officers Burials at Warriston Cemetery