John Hammond (physiologist)
| John Hammond | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 February 1889 in Briston, Norfolk |
| Died | 25 August 1964 (aged 75) |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
| Alma mater | Downing College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Artificial insemination |
| Notable awards | Fellow of the Royal Society |
Sir John Hammond CBE FRSPhD (23 February 1889 - 25 August 1964), was a physiologist, agricultural research scientist, veterinarian known for his pioneering work in artificial insemination.
The son of Burrell Hammond, a farmer in Briston, Norfolk, Hammond was educated at Gresham's School and Downing College, Cambridge. He was named after his grandfather, another John Hammond, who was both a farmer and a veterinarian and one of the founders of the Red Poll herdbook in the 1870s.
Hammond arrived at Downing as an undergraduate in 1907 and for most of his career was a Fellow of the College. He also headed the School of Physiology of Animal Reproduction of the University of Cambridge and was a founder of the Cambridge Animal Research Station.
Hammond conducted classical studies on embryo survival in the early 1920s. His famous study Rate of Intra-uterine Growth (1938) showed that crossbred foetal foals grew at the rate of their dams' pure breed. He was the first to crystallize the theory of metabolic rate-dependent prioritizing of nutrient partitioning between tissues. He was also the first to report the duration of oestrus for lactating cows (19.3 hours) and heifers (16.1 hours). He studied closely the major changes in animal shape resulting from the domestication and selective breeding of farm animals.
With Arthur Walton, Hammond was one of the pioneers of artificial insemination ('AI'). As he couldn’t practice certain AI techniques in England, because of religious and cultural taboos, Hammond sponsored work in other countries where such limitations did not apply. He sent a colleague, Dr Luis Thomasset, to Russia to work on AI with the Soviets. He himself introduced AI to other countries, such as Argentina.
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