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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
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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:
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