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Stephen Paget (17 July 1855 – 8 May 1926) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
and pro-vivisection campaigner."Paget, Stephen (1855–1926)"
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
He proposed the "seed and soil" theory of metastasis, which claims the distribution of cancers are not coincidental. He was the son of the distinguished surgeon and
pathologist Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in th ...
Sir
James Paget Sir James Paget, 1st Baronet FRS HFRSE (11 January 1814 – 30 December 1899) (, rhymes with "gadget") was an English surgeon and pathologist who is best remembered for naming Paget's disease and who is considered, together with Rudolf Virch ...
.


Biography

Paget was born on 17 July 1855 at
Cavendish Square Cavendish Square is a public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square in the much ...
, London. He was the fifth child and fourth son of Sir James Paget (1814–1899). Paget was a student at
St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...
and obtained the F.R.C.S. in 1885. He was elected assistant surgeon to the
Metropolitan Hospital Metropolitan Hospital Center (MHC, also referred to as Metropolitan Hospital) is a hospital in East Harlem, New York City. It has been affiliated with New York Medical College since it was founded in 1875, representing the oldest partnership bet ...
and was surgeon at West London Hospital. He was surgeon to the Throat and Ear Department at
Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...
. Paget died in
Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25.
on 8 May 1926.


Proposed theory

Paget has long been credited with proposing the "seed and soil" theory of
metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, the ...
, even though in his paper "The Distribution Of Secondary Growths In Cancer Of The Breast" he clearly states "…the chief advocate of this theory of the relation between the embolus and the tissues which receive it is Fuchs…". Ernst Fuchs (1851-1930) an Austrian ophthalmologist, physician and researcher however, doesn't refer to the phenomenon as "seed and soil", but defines it as a "predisposition" of an organ to be the recipient of specific growths. In his paper, Paget presents and analyzes 735 fatal cases of breast cancer, complete with autopsy, as well as many other cancer cases from the literature and argues that the distribution of metastases cannot be due to chance, concluding that although "the best work in pathology of cancer is done by those who… are studying the nature of the seed…" he cancer cell the "observations of the properties of the soil" he secondary organ"may also be useful..."


Approbation of Louis Pasteur

In addition to other publications, he also wrote a book about
Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...
titled ''Pasteur and After Pasteur''. Pasteur's life is discussed from his early life through his accomplishments. Paget wrote this book in memoriam of Pasteur's life, and in the preface he states, "It has been arranged to publish this manual on September 28th, the day of Pasteur's death. That is a day which all physicians and surgeons -- and not they alone -- ought to mark on their calendars; and it falls this year with special significance to us, now that his country and ours are fighting side by side to bring back the world's peace."


Vivisection

After his retirement from medical practice in 1910, Paget devoted much time to justifying
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 experiment ...
.Bates, A. W. H. (2017). ''Anti-Vivisection and the Profession of Medicine in Britain: A Social History''. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 135. He was secretary 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 a ...
. He authored ''The Case Against Anti-Vivisection'' in 1904 and was the editor of ''For and Against Experiments on Animals'', 1912. Paget was heavily criticized by anti-vivisectionists. In 1962, Archibald Hill noted that "Stephen Paget's death indeed was claimed by anti-vivisectionists as a direct consequence of their prayers."


Criticism of Christian Science

In 1909, Paget authored a book, ''The Faith and Works of Christian Science'' which exposed the fallacies, inconsistencies, and dangers of
Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...
.


Selected publications

*''The Case Against Anti-Vivisection''. 1904. * *
''Ambroise Paré and His Times, 1510-1590''
(1897)
''Confessio Medici''
1908.
''The Faith and Works of Christian Science''
1909. *
''For and Against Experiments on Animals''
1912. * * * * * *


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paget, Stephen 1855 births 1926 deaths Critics of Christian Science English surgeons People educated at Shrewsbury School Vivisection activists Younger sons of baronets