Charles Rupert Stockard

Background

Charles was born on February 27, 1879 in Washington County, Mississippi, United States, on February 27, 1879. He was the eldest of four children and only son of Richard Rupert Stockard, a country doctor, and Ella Hyde (Fowlkes) Stockard, both of English descent.

Education

After attending the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College (B. Sc. , 1899; M. S. , 1901) and teaching military science at that institution (1898 - 1900) and at Jefferson Military College in Natchez (1900 - 03), he went to Columbia University to begin postgraduate studies in zoology.

In 1907 he received his Ph. D. in physiology at Columbia.

Career

After studies at Columbia Stockard went to the Medical College of Cornell University, in New York City, to teach anatomy and histology. Spending his summers at Woods Hole, Massachussets, or occasionally at other biological stations in America and abroad, he investigated the basic problems of form in animals and especially the regeneration of injured tissues.

Rising through the various academic posts of the Cornell school, he became in 1911 professor and head of the reorganized anatomical laboratories. This appointment, of a scientific biologist rather than an old-school surgical anatomist, was hailed by Franklin P. Mall, the leader of American anatomy, as a notable gain for medical education.

Stockard met the challenge by maintaining a very active group of young research men in his department. While working with guinea pigs in the effort to apply the methods of experimental embryology to mammals (in which the embryos are not as easily subjected to experiment as those of fishes or amphibians) Stockard and his associate George Nicholas Papanicolaou hit upon the fact that the reproductive cycle of the female is characterized by cellular changes not only in the ovaries and uterus but also in the vagina. Thus by a simple microscopic examination of cells scraped from the vaginal lining, the time when the eggs are shed from the ovaries can be ascertained and the whole cycle timed.

This method, rapidly taken up by other investigators, revolutionized the study of the reproductive cycle and led to the discovery of the ovarian hormones. Papanicolaou subsequently extended the technique of "exfoliative cytology" to the diagnosis of cancer of the reproductive and respiratory tracts.

Meanwhile, feeling the need of a physician's viewpoint, Stockard took an M. D. at Wurzburg in 1922, passing the examinations after a summer's study. Because of Stockard's wide-ranging curiosity about fundamental problems of life, his own research was of pioneering and provocative character rather than definitive and conclusive.

The more than 150 titles in his bibliography cover a wide range of topics in cytology, embryology, genetics, endocrinology, medicine, and education. His last major investigation, published after his death, was an extensive study of cross-breeding in dogs, aimed at finding out how the genes actually operate in calling forth the specific inherited details of bodily form and of behavior. His later writings were chiefly devoted to the exposition, both technical and popular, of his views about the controlling factors in human and animal development.

Although in his journal reports and also in his popular writings he was careful and accurate in statement, in conversation and even at scientific meetings Stockard enjoyed taking a dogmatic stand and putting out bold conjectures. With his trim, soldierly figure and features, keen eyes, and vigorous manner of speaking, in a southern accent that years in the North had not altogether dispelled, he made a vivid figure on the platform and was a respected, sometimes even feared, adversary in scientific discussion. As might be expected, he was a popular and effective teacher. Stockard very capably conducted the American Journal of Anatomy from 1921 to 1938 as managing editor.

He died of cancer of the lung and was buried at Woods Hole.

Achievements

• Charles Rupert Stockard was president of the American Society of Zoologists in 1925 and of the American Association of Anatomists, 1928-30. He also published an excellent book on this subject, The Physical Basis of Personality. Besides, he was also the managing editor of American Journal of Anatomy and the coeditor of the Journal of Experimental Zoology.

Works

More photos

• book

  • An Experimental Analysis of the Origin of Blood and Vascular Endothelium: 1. the Origin of Blood and Vascular Endothelium in Embryos Without a ... 2. a Study of Wandering Mesenchymal Cells

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • An experimental analysis of the origin of blood and vascular endothelium 1. The origin of blood and vascular endothelium in embryos without a circulation of the blood and in the normal embryo.Forty-nine figures.2. A study of wandering mesenchymal cells on. no 7

    (This book, "An experimental analysis of the origin of blo...)

  • The physical basis of personality,
  • The genetic and endocrinic basis for differences in form and behavior,: As elucidated by studies of contrasted pure-line dog breeds and their hybrids, (The American anatomical memoirs)
  • Habits, reactions, and mating instincts of the "walking stick," Aplopus mayeri (Carnegie Institution of Washington. Tortugas Laboratory. Papers)

Views

Although in his journal reports and also in his popular writings he was careful and accurate in statement, in conversation and even at scientific meetings Stockard enjoyed taking a dogmatic stand and putting out bold conjectures.

Yet he did not believe in research as a duty. He preferred to speak of it as an

“opportunity. ” This wholesome point of view explains his own attainments as an investigator, because only love of research for its own sake can lend the patience and courage required to overcome difficulties and bring the task to a successful termination.

Quotations: Stockard concluded that : “when we consider the welfare of the race or stock rather than that of the individual, it is found that the descendants of those groups of animals which suffered the highest mortalities and thus withstood the most rigorous elimination are superior in quality to the descendants of the groups less severely affected. This individual selection furnishes a great advantage to the later generations. ”

Membership

He was a member of the American Society of Zoologists (1925), of the American Association of Anatomists (1928-30), of the American Philosophical Society (1924), and of the Harvey Society (honorary).

Personality

The friendliness of his manner, his keen sense of humor, and his frankness were duly appreciated by those who were associated with him.

Besides being a leader in scientific research Dr. Stockard was a born teacher. He had the gift of clarity and the ability to impart knowledge.

Connections

On August 14, 1912, he married Mercedes Mueller of Munich, Germany, and New York City, by whom he had two children, Marie Louise and Richard Robert.

Father:

Richard Rupert Stockard

Mother:

Ella Hyde (Fowlkes) Stockard

collaborator:

G. N. Papanicolaou

Wife:

Mercedes Mueller

Daughter:

Marie Louise Stockard

Son:

Richard Robert Stockard