Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-26
THE CHOLERA MICRoBE.
DR. PgRRANs DISCOVERY.

OF Hts Woft.
A Paris letter to the New York
T,ms, says: Although. most 10th TO
recognize the claims to merit OF fell
Iov.coun,ryman, the French are even
more indisposed TO recognize the claims
10 merit OF any foreigner. In the first
case. the recognition Of talent abroad
generally suiiices to overcome native
skepticism, as witness the success OF
the File dc Nine. Angot," which no
manager here would look at until the
"braye Belges" had welcomed the
charming operetta at their theatre ofthe
Noano,e, but for the second there is
no let UP. That exotic origin
is the indelible spot OF original sin
which ali the waters Of civic baptism,
meaning naturalization, cannot wash
ont, and If discovery made or q SER
vice rendered be so remarkable or so
brillisnt as to make disparagement
ridiculous, every mind turns to search
for Ia petite BITE. C.. some way by
which some Of the grudgingly-be-
slowed credit can be attributed TO
France herself, TO French educa-
ton. 10 French surroundings, or to
French descent, though it may be ages
ago. which will account for it, and
thereby salve over the wound 10 national
vanity. And every heart beats with
wild JOY il anybody can succeed in show
ing that the thing in question, whatever
il may be, was found out or invented
by some Rrenchman for whom it did not
succeed because Of want Of patronage
or on account Of clerical oppo-
sitjon or "well known repub-
bcan sentiment in the days Of
tyranny" IL one doubts this DISPOSE
ton on the part Of the Gauls, just let
Kim preside over one Of their juries at
an international exposition, as | have
done, and he will doubt no longer. All
Of which is q preface to my nstice of
that remarkable discovery Of DR.. Fer
ran in the matter Of choleraic vaccns-
ton. which looks now as though
destined to reduce the fearful Asian
scourge TO proportions not much more
formidable than those OF the chicken
poH.
II was a terrible blow TO French
amour pr0pre when the Academic de
Medicine was forced by the pressure of
public opinion clearly manifested by
the press to send commission to ex-
anime into the matter on the spot, aud
am persuaded that the report Of DR..
Brouardel and company will conclude
against the practical value Of the
remedy, or, more properly, the prevent
i've, as DR.. Ferran is a thoroughbred
Spaniard. born at Arbera dc Ebro, in the
Province Of Tarragona, some thirty
seven, thirty-eight, or forty years ago,
he himself not being quite sure OF his
own age. Nor was he even educated
in France, whittier he was sent after a
competitive examination at Barcelona
last year to study the cholera epidemic
az Narseilles. lie was accompanied
by young chemist, NJ. PAUL, with
whom be was admitted to make expert
ments in the laboratory Of the Pharo
Hospital, whose directors, Drs. Nicatl
and Rietsch, not sharing the Frenchman's
usual antipathy toward foreigners,
gave them every facility for their re-
searches. All through the month Of
September did these two Iberians
work, assisting at autopsicS, collecting
the objections Of cholera patients, and
breeding JdciIli, which they fed on
soup, gelatines, and vegetables until
thoy obtained a plentiful provision Of
the terrible parasites. In the mean
time their resources gave out and
they went home to be treated
Ike vulgar malefactors by their
cOuntrymen, who put them in a
lazzaretto at Port Bon and kept
them there the regular ten days, driv-
inc them nearly mad with fear lest their
pets might die from want of proper
nourishment, and that thus they would
lacG the means Of solving the problem
on which their minds were bent. But
the microbes did not die on the con-
trary, they thrived and multiplied, and
when the Doctor and his friend began
to experiment in October they had
millions Of subjects at their dis
posal. And the two scientists worked
indefatigsbly, studying the evolutiOns
Of the microbe, following the different
forms assumed by it in the various
phases Of its development, noticing par
ticularities which disappeared second
after they had attracted attention. As
DR.. Ferran has said 81 was once
obliged to remain motionless a whole
hour, with my eyes applied TO the glass Of
my microscope, watching for the repro
dsction Of what so much interested
me-" Finally success crowned his eff
forts. and on the 9th Of December,
1884, a telegram was dispatched by
DR.. Ferran to the King, to the Prime
Minister, to the Mayor of Barcelona,
and to several medical notables, an
nouncing that L" the problem Of trans
mission Of the cholera TO animals and
Of their vaccination is solved. Human
subjects support this vaccination. PAUL.
and | are vaccinated."
Now, whether the Doctor IS right or
wrong in his conclusions, further eX-
periments only can prove conclusively.
At all events, he deserves great paise
for his courage in thus Drawing terri
bic death, not out Of mere bravado,
but solely in the interests of humanity.
His work does not merit the CON
temptuous indifference displayed to-
ward it on this side Of the Py-
renees. where one Of the most serious
objections made was the mode OF
cultivation Of the parasite. To this Dr.
Ferran has replied, as his admirers aver
VIGOROUSLY. The discovery made an
immense sensation by some 1t was
qualified as q "rsy Of glory which
would illuminate all SPAIN by others
as quaekery and charlatanism but the
Barcelons Academy appointed com,
mittee to examine into the theory, and
amer two months Of careful study Ia
yorsbls report was drawn up ana Dr.
Terran received gold medal.
Soon afterward tie cholera broke
out in the Province Of Valencis, ana
DR.. Ferran was requested by the local