Dr. Burchell

When Edgar Burchell was 16, he got a job as porter at Manhattan's Eye and Ear Infirmary--7 a.m. to 7 p.m., $17 a month. To bolster his meager earnings, he began making anatomical specimens on the side; by way of continuing his education, which had stopped with primary school, he went to free lectures at Cooper Union and Washington Irving High School. Some nights after work, in the hospital's empty laboratory, he practiced experiments he had seen others do. Eventually, he became one of the laboratory assistants.

By 1931, when King Prajadhipok of Siam came to the U.S. for treatment of his cataract, Edgar Burchell was an expert in eye, ear, nose & throat bacteriology and pathology. It was he who determined that the little king's eye was free from dangerous bacteria and could safely be operated on.

Last week, 73-year-old exPorter Burchell, attending serologist and bacteriologist in charge of the laboratory (now called "doctor" because of an honorary degree from Roanoke College), got professional recognition for his more than 50 years of achievement and service: the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology made him its first lay honorary fellow. At a three-hour ceremony, Dr. Burchell heard 18 eulogistic speeches, received a $2,000 "jubilee award" from his friends.

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