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Moral Fibre: The Negotiation of Microscopic Facts in Victorian Britain

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Abstract

During the 1840s and 1850s the Britishembryologist and histologist Martin Barry(1802–1855) propounded a bold and originalthesis about the microscopic structure ofanimal and vegetable tissue. He maintainedthat minute double spirals were virtuallyubiquitous in the makeup of a wide range ofstructures. This paper considers how a claimof this kind was consonant with a romanticimage of scientific creativity with which Barryidentified. It describes his partiallysuccessful strategies to convincecontemporaries of the veracity of his claims. Major figures in the field, such as RichardOwen and Jan Evangelista Purkyně, affirmed thatBarry's spirals were real objects in nature. Others, notably William Sharpey, becameconvinced that the spirals were mere artefactsand that Barry was deeply flawed as ascientific investigator. The ultimaterejection of his hypothesis had much to do withthe moral repugnance that Barry's attempts togain credit for a major discovery evoked amonginfluential medical scientists. This negativeassessment of Barry as an investigator revealsthe lineaments of an alternative ethic ofscientific practice.

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  1. Wellcome Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London, London, NW1 1AD, UK

    L.S. Jacyna

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Jacyna, L. Moral Fibre: The Negotiation of Microscopic Facts in Victorian Britain. Journal of the History of Biology 36, 39–85 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022532313285

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