Smith, Theobald, 1859–1934, American pathologist, b. Albany, N.Y., M.D. Albany Medical College, 1883. He was professor of bacteriology at Columbian (now George Washington) Univ. (1886–95) and of comparative pathology at Harvard (1896–1915) and served (1915–29) as director of the department of animal pathology at Rockefeller Institute (now Rockefeller Univ.). He demonstrated the etiology of Texas cattle fever, differentiated between human and bovine tubercle bacilli, and, in his work on immunity, noted the allergylike reaction later investigated by Richet.

Smith, Theobald

(born July 31, 1859, Albany, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 10, 1934, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. microbiologist and pathologist. He received his M.D. from Cornell University. He discovered that injected heat-killed cultures of the causative microorganisms can immunize animals against disease. His discovery that Texas cattle fever is caused by a parasite transmitted by ticks—the first definite proof of arthropods' role in spreading disease—helped the scientific community accept mosquitoes' role in malaria and yellow fever. Smith was the first to differentiate the bacteria that cause tuberculosis in cattle and in humans, and he was one of the first to notice anaphylaxis. He also improved laboratory production of vaccines.

Smith, Theobald (1859–1934) medical scientist; born in Albany, N.Y. He organized the department of bacteriology at George Washington University (St. Louis) where he then taught (1886–95). He went on to Harvard Medical School and simultaneously served as director of the pathology lab of the Massachusetts Board of Health (1895–1915). His last post was as director of the department of animal pathology at the Rockefeller Institute (1915–29). His early work was on the swine plague, hog cholera, and Texas fever among cattle. He studied the relationship between bovine and human tuberculosis, showed how parasites act as vectors of disease, did important work on a smallpox vaccine and on diphtheria and tetanus antitoxins, and was the first to record his observations of allergy.