Koch and 'Bull' memorial orations of the physiological society of Sri Lanka

Professor Carlo FONSEKA

ORATIONS: For the 19th unbroken year, the Physiological Society of Sri Lanka (PSSL) formally commemorates the memory of the two founding Sri Lankan giants of the discipline of Physiology in this country.

They were Professor A.C.E. Koch and Professor K.N. (Bull) Seneviratne. They taught Physiology; they searched for knowledge and they served the country from the Colombo Medical School, which had come into existence in 1870.

Koch was Professor of Physiology from 1952 to 1968; "Bull" as he was affectionately called by all and sundry, was Professor of Physiology from 1969 to 1981.

After a brilliant career in the Colombo Medical School, which he entered in 1922, Koch joined the Department of Physiology in 1935 and rose to the position of Professor in which capacity he served until he retired in 1968.

After a brilliant career in the Colombo Medical School, which he entered in 1949, Bull joined the Physiology Department in 1957 as a Demonstrator, and rose to the position of Professor of Physiology in which capacity he served until he retired in 1981.

Thus during the period from 1957 to 1968 when their careers overlapped, Koch and Bull were colleagues in the Department of Physiology. This period from 1957 to 1968 came to be called the Koch & Bull era of Physiology in Sri Lanka.

Koch and Bull era

Professor Koch who had a delightful humour, rejoiced in the foul canard which he (probably) invented and (certainly) propagated with glee that Physiology in the Colombo Medical School is a 'Koch and Bull' story.

It was such a wonderful story that I for one, found myself irresistibly drawn to participate in it as a professional character.

In my A.C.E. Koch Memorial Oration (1987), I called Professor Koch "my fairy godfather". In my KN Seneviratne Memorial Oration (2001), I called Professor Seneviratne "my best friend".

Decline of physiology

In recent decades, with radical curricular reform, Physiology has become a downgraded and inglorious discipline. Simultaneously, Medicine has become transformed into a major money-spinning trade surpassing in profitability even the alcohol industry.

Should we laugh or cry about this state of affairs? A Freudian free association of ideas brings to my mind the themes of this year's Memorial Orations. The ACE Koch Memorial Oration is titled "Humour and Creativity'. The KN Seneviratne Oration is titled "Alcohol and Pleasure?"

Omniscient Professor Arsecularatne

The Koch Memorial Oration will be delivered by Professor S.N. Arseculeratne, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology, University of Peradeniya. Professor Arseculeratne happens to be the most learned medical scientist in the world known personally to me.

A brilliant researcher in his own field of Microbiology, he knows much about everything else you may care to name in the macro world, from Sinhalese in Malaysia to the theory of combustion engines to the anatomy of humour. Listening to him is an exercise in education with a difference.

Professor Diyanath Samarasinghe

The KN Seneviratne Oration will be delivered by Deshamanya Vidyajyothi Professor Diyanath Samarasinghe, who currently teaches Psychological Medicine in the University of Colombo.

On the slightest provocation, I proudly announce that he was my pupil (from whom I learnt much) and that I was briefly his boss in the Department of Physiology, Colombo, where he did what he liked and didn't do what he didn't like. He is a genuinely original thinker.

His ideas are always interesting, often outrageously provocative, and occasionally, it seems to me, cranky. When I told him one day that the taste of 'Martini' gives me pleasure, he said that 'Martini' is bound to have tasted awful when I first sipped it. The fact is that I can't remember. Anyhow, he is well worth going miles to listen to, when he is talking about 'Alcohol and Pleasure?'

Importance of physiology

The PSSL is proud of its track record of having organised the Koch and 'Bull' Memorial Orations on 18 previous occasions, including the worst of times in our recent history. The PSSL itself is poor, but we are content because we have been rich and rich enough in the intellectual quality of the orations we have offered annually.

Though the role of the discipline of Physiology in the medical curriculum is no longer a major one, the importance of human Physiology, the scientific study of how the body works, remains undiminished. I believe that it is the proper study of humankind.

Bertrand Russell once wrote: 'Man is an animal and his happiness depends upon his physiology more than he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion but I cannot make myself disbelieve it." So to neglect Physiology is to risk unhappiness.

Readers are cordially invited to come to these orations, both of which will be held at the Lionel Memorial Auditorium, No. 6, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7. Both orations will commence at 6.30 p.m.

The ACE Koch Memorial Oration will be held on 20 November (his birthday). The KN Seneviratne Memorial Oration will be held on 22 November (his birthday).