Prof. Paul A. Murphy | Nature

Prof. Paul A. Murphy | Nature

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ABSTRACT THE Royal Dublin Society's Boyle medal, awarded to Prof. Paul A. Murphy in recognition of the value of his work in phytopathology, was presented to him at a special scientific meeting of the Society on May 5. The medal, which was instituted in commemoration of Robert Boyle, the illustrious Irish chemist, is awarded to Irish workers in all branches of science, pure and applied, whose work is adjudged to be of outstanding merit and importance. It was first awarded in 1899 to Prof. G. Johnstone Stoney for his work, which included what was probably the first approximate estimate of the electronic charge. Prof. Murphy's name is the eleventh on the list of holders. In presenting the report of the Committee of Science recommending the award of the medal, Prof. H. H. Dixon gave a brief summary of Prof. Murphy's work, which may be said to have commenced with his investigations in conjunction with Dr. G. H. Pethybridge into the life-history and biology of _Phytophthora infestans_, the fungus responsible for potato blight. Prof. Murphy then attacked the problem of the virus diseases and showed that the progressive deterioration which generally occurs in every variety of the potato is attributable to the accumulation of virus in successive crops. His work has also thrown much light on the complex nature of many virus diseases. He has contributed largely to our knowledge of various diseases of other plants, amongst which onion mildew and dry rot in turnips may be especially mentioned. Sir Frederick Moore, in supporting the award, referred especially to the great value of the work on potato blight, and of the important bearing of the investigations into the virus diseases on the seed potato industry. In making the presentation to Prof. Murphy, the Right Hon. Viscount Powerscourt, president of the Society, pointed out how particularly appropriate it was for the presentation to be made at a meeting held during the Society's Agricultural Show, since Prof. Murphy's work, in addition to being of great importance to pure science, is also a very valuable contribution to the advancement of agriculture, thus linking the two great branches of the Society's activities. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Prof. Paul A. Murphy. _Nature_ 131, 683 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131683b0 Download citation * Issue Date: 13 May 1933 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131683b0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

ABSTRACT THE Royal Dublin Society's Boyle medal, awarded to Prof. Paul A. Murphy in recognition of the value of his work in phytopathology, was presented to him at a special scientific


meeting of the Society on May 5. The medal, which was instituted in commemoration of Robert Boyle, the illustrious Irish chemist, is awarded to Irish workers in all branches of science, pure


and applied, whose work is adjudged to be of outstanding merit and importance. It was first awarded in 1899 to Prof. G. Johnstone Stoney for his work, which included what was probably the


first approximate estimate of the electronic charge. Prof. Murphy's name is the eleventh on the list of holders. In presenting the report of the Committee of Science recommending the


award of the medal, Prof. H. H. Dixon gave a brief summary of Prof. Murphy's work, which may be said to have commenced with his investigations in conjunction with Dr. G. H. Pethybridge


into the life-history and biology of _Phytophthora infestans_, the fungus responsible for potato blight. Prof. Murphy then attacked the problem of the virus diseases and showed that the


progressive deterioration which generally occurs in every variety of the potato is attributable to the accumulation of virus in successive crops. His work has also thrown much light on the


complex nature of many virus diseases. He has contributed largely to our knowledge of various diseases of other plants, amongst which onion mildew and dry rot in turnips may be especially


mentioned. Sir Frederick Moore, in supporting the award, referred especially to the great value of the work on potato blight, and of the important bearing of the investigations into the


virus diseases on the seed potato industry. In making the presentation to Prof. Murphy, the Right Hon. Viscount Powerscourt, president of the Society, pointed out how particularly


appropriate it was for the presentation to be made at a meeting held during the Society's Agricultural Show, since Prof. Murphy's work, in addition to being of great importance to


pure science, is also a very valuable contribution to the advancement of agriculture, thus linking the two great branches of the Society's activities. Access through your institution


Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and


online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes


which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints


and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Prof. Paul A. Murphy. _Nature_ 131, 683 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131683b0 Download citation * Issue Date: 13 May 1933 * DOI:


https://doi.org/10.1038/131683b0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently


available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative