Sir William Maddock Bayliss

Sir William Maddock Bayliss (1860-1924), English physiologist. Bayliss, along with physiologist Ernest Henry Starling, discovered the intestinal extract called secretin (see Physiology). Bayliss was born in Wolverhampton, England, was a student at University College, London, and in 1887 graduated from Wadham College, Oxford. Thereafter he taught physiology at University College, where in 1912 he became professor of physiology. Bayliss was particularly interested in electrophysiology, and in collaboration with Starling he studied the salivary system, the circulatory system and the heart, the flow of lymph, and the motions of the intestine. In 1902 the two scientists discovered secretin, an intestinal hormone of aid to pancreatic secretion (see Pancreas). Bayliss and Starling proposed the term hormone for a secretion that could act upon other organs through the bloodstream.

Bayliss also conducted research in physiological chemistry, and through his research he developed a saline injection for the relief of surgical shock, which proved of considerable value during World War I (1914-1918). He was awarded the Copley Medal for his contributions to science in 1919, and was knighted in 1922. Bayliss was editor of Physiological Abstracts, and was also the author of several books, including Nature of Enzyme Action (1908), Principles of General Physiology (1915), and The Vaso-motor System (1923).