Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-05


nyohlcm which passenr had srAsped,
and which be applied with the s''-
! cscity Of genius, welcoming any tests
which were proposed TO him. secure
IN the belief that be had his hand upon
the cause Of splenic-feyers, and ny nus
method OF inoculation turned It against
itself he accepted an invitation. from
The Society Of Agriculture at Mclun 70
make public experiment. Fifty sheep
and 4 herd Of cows were provided.
One half OF them NJ. Pasteur vac
cjpated with the attenuated virus,
The other half we're LEFT. Four
TEN days afterward the entire
number Of sheep and cows were inocu-
lated with rirulent virus, and IN three
days a large body oil interested stock
raisers and sgriculturists assembled 70
learn the result. Out Of the twenty. i've
unvaccinated sheep but two remained
sliye. and these were dying. The twen-
ty.fiyc yacciuaied sheep were, however,
unframed by the virulent incubation,
as wore the yaccinated cows, while the
rest of the herd was suffering from
intense fever. So practical an APP
ulicaiion and exemplilication OF scien-
tifc theory was not without its result,
for BY the end Of the year (lSSD $4,000
animals in France had been yaccInated,
A proceeding so prolific Of good that the
number rose in 1888 to nearly 100000,
and breeders OF cattle in Europe have
not vet forgotten the name Of the man
who saved their industry to them and
TO their nation.
But he who putteth his hand to the
plow must not look back. There are
still terrible diseases battling the skill,
the experience, the imagination even,
of man. OF these rabies seemed most
TO care for the experienced hand
of the trained scientific observer,
and TO this Pasteur turned his
attention, pursuing the same exact
methods, the same caution, in
testing every point and establish
ing his steps. He tried many thousands
of experiments upon animals to ascer-
tain in what species the poison deyel-
oped most readily and in what it was
diminished in virulence. Thus he found
that by incubation from rabbit to rab-
bit the virulence was increased. On
the contrary, in passing from the dog
to the monkey and from monkey to
monkey it is decreased, and if dog
is then inoculated with this sat
tenuated" virus thus produced,
the disease is much milder. He
was able thus TO procure virus
which would occasion such mild form
Of the disorder in a dog that the ami
NAL was not seriously i'll, and yet was
ever after protected from the poison,
by bite, by incubation, or any
other method. The experiments of
Pasteur were considered OF such i'm
portance that the French Government
appointed a commission to examine the
subject. In its report the committee
sustained Pasteur, but confessed
itself not yet satisfied that human
beings could be protected in this man
ner. In communication to the Inter-
national Medical Congress, in 1874,
Pasteur, who was perhaps the most
celebrated of all the scientists there
declared that he was ready
to demonstrate the possibility of pro-
tecting human beings by incubation
after this method, and that he would do
so should he find any who were willing
to place themselves under his care.
Fortunately for mankind, cases Of
this kind are comparatively rare, aud
yet it appears that his aid has at last
been sought, two boys having been
treated in the method proposed, with
the exact result predicted by Pasteur.
When it is considered that in one case
the boy had been bitten fourteen times
by dog undoubtedly suffering from
rabies, that sixty hours had elapsed
before he reached Paris, and that at
the end of 100 days be was alive
and well, there seems ample reason
for the ovation given NJ. Pasteur by the
Academy and the public. The other
case, though not of so long standing,
promises equally good results. Hy-
drophobia is so rare, all things con-
sidered, that the possibility of its cure
may seem a matter Of limited i'm
portance, but no consideration of this
sort can lessen the debt of graft
tude humanity owes the patient ex-
perimenter. No praise is too high, no
name too noble to bestow upon this
wonderful man. All charlatanism and
selfseeking must show forth in their
own colors beside the single-mindedness
and devotion he has shown in his search
for truth amid the clouds Of misappre-
hension and misconception with which
it is surrounded. He is not yet an old
man. Scholars live long. From his
vantage ground Of sixty-three years he
may look to possible future with hopes
as high as when, younger man, he
saw wonderful discoveries lying in wait
for the cunning hand on the keen, pa
tient gaze of the experimenter. lie
may yet shatter the barriers he sees
between the mineral and organic king
doms, or, better still, perhaps raise
new barriers between mankind and his
destroyers.