Health Sciences · Temerty Faculty of Medicine
A square cast bronze plaque bearing the image of a dog (a white terrier mix). Above the dog is a large “1” surrounded by a laurel wreath. Below this is printed “MARJORIE”, On the upper left hand side of the plaque (relative to the viewer) is printed “INSULIN”. On the lower right hand side is printed “SEPT 1921”.
A copper hanging wire is attached to the back of the plaque by two pierced bosses that are moulded onto its surface. An explanatory note is pasted on the reverse side of the plaque with clear tape.
Accession Number: 2026.med.69
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Bronze
The note taped to the back of the plaque reads as follows:
“MARJORIE” the first depancreatized// animal to be kept alive// by Insulin.// Dr. Harris Peyton MOSER, 128 Front// St. Marblehead, Mass., designed and// cast this plaque himself from a photo// given to him by Dr.Best when he (Dr. M)// visited Toronto, Jan 24, 1951.” The note is also printed with the words: “UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO// BANTING AND BEST DEPARTMENT OF// MEDICAL RESEARCH”
Moulded into one side of the casting: “M 1952”. The initial “M” is also moulded into the bottom left corner of the plaque’s front surface.
Height = 15.5, Width = 1.5, Length = 15.5
This is a commemorative plaque celebrating the life of a terrier mix named Marjorie (test dog 33), who served as a research animal in experimental trials of insulin at the University of Toronto. In autumn of 1921, Marjorie survived seventy days on supplemental insulin after having her pancreas surgically removed. This provided solid evidence that the insulin program had developed an insulin extract that could sustain life in the absence of a functioning pancreas.
This artifact is intact and in good condition. The portions of clear tape that attaches the note to the rear of the plaque has become detached.
Associated Instruments:
Dr. Harris Peyton Mosher (1867-1954). Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Date of Manufacture: 1952
This artifact is among a collection of memorabilia from the Banting and Best Medical Research Department that is archived by the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
Michael Bliss (2021). The Discovery of Insulin. Special centenary edition. University of Toronto Press.
Jarett Casale (2019) “Harris Peyton Mosher, MD: The Educator, Artist, and Pioneer behind the Mosher Award.” Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. 160, 3: 510–11.
Test dog 33, later named Marjorie, was one among many dogs and other experimental animals sacrificed in the development of insulin by Drs. Frederick Banting (1891-1941), Charles Best (1899 – 1978), James Collip (1892 – 1965), and their collaborators. This process was central to the medical experiments that led to the insulin discovery of 1921 – 1922.
Marjorie was depancreatized on 18 November 1921. She survived a further seventy days through periodic doses of the evolving insulin extract. Her longevity provided solid evidence of the extract’s efficacy, and she became an emblem of insulin’s discovery. On 27 January 1922, Marjorie was euthanized by chloroform. It is unclear why the decision was made to end the experiment at that point. Historian Michael Bliss (1941–2017) mentions several likely factors in his definitive account of the insulin discovery (See Bliss 2021 [1982], 121 – 122).
This plaque is an example of Marjorie’s significance within the insulin narrative. It was made by Dr. Harris Peyton Mosher (1867-1954), a pioneering otolaryngologist who taught at Harvard University. Mosher was a skilled artist who created the medical illustrations for many of his published papers (see Casale 2019, 510). He visited the Banting and Best Medical Research Department in 1951 where he was given a photo that included Marjorie by Dr. Charles Best. The following year, he gifted the plaque to the Research Department.