Ernest Hanbury Hankin (1865-1939), a graduate of St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, London, and St. John's College Cambridge (1882-86), studied with Koch and with Pasteur. Hankin did bacteriological work in India, researching cholera and malaria at Agra. In 1896 he discovered "bacteriophage" activity in the river waters of the Ganges and Jamuna. Since bacteriophages passed through a fine porcelain filter, they thereby indicated that they were a non-bacterial and very small active agent. Some protection against cholera was possible with the agent. See d'Hérelle.

Hankin also experimented with potassium permanganate disinfectant in Indian water-wells.


Created 11 January 2017

Last modified 24 February 2023