The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-02-22

many is then most enjoyable. He Is very
polished in his manner, fond of good
Joke and knows equally well how to tell
and appreciate good story. But there Is
one thing he does not like, that is to be In
terrogated in the midst of his scientific
pursuits and discoveries by people who 90
not know anything about what he Is at,
and from lack Of. knowledge bother him
with foolish questions for curiosity sake.
The personal appearance of the man - 9
surprise to everybody. He il small and
his figure rather delicate, his complexion
is light, and he has magnificent head
with q splendidly developed forehead and
large blue eyes sparkling with intellect c;
nence in the scientific world, DR.. Koch has
not much hair, but rather luxurious
beard and . mustache of ample proper
tons. He wears gold spectacles,
which he Is in the habit of push
ing up and down . little OCCASION
s vbi E1i ss sSs. Koeh II n to
speak of the days of his youth, which he
passed under favorable circumstances.
His parents were not wealthy by any
means, but they lived in comfortable sur
roundings. While at college in Clausthal,
his native city, he was well liked by his
companions, and readily Joined them in
their youthful pleasures; Although be
inence and high standing in the
community, he did not consider itbeneath
his dignity to associate with young men
who had sprung from the lower walks OF
life, provided their character and habits
suited his taste. He became member of
q society formed by the pupils of the cyan
nasium in Clansthal, and even joined
failed to achieve distinction in the latter
capacity.
Altogether it appears that true to his
modest and retiring disposition Koch
never aspired to the part of leader among
the companions Of his youth.
DIR. Koch was Is years of age when he
became medical student at the Univer-
some very eminent men were connected
as professors with this faculty, as for in
stance, the chemist, Friedrich Wohler,
the Psychologist, Rudolf Wagner; the
anatomist, T. Henle, who was first to
claim that contagious disease originated
from parasites living in the human body.
The high intellectual qualities of Koch
were soon appreciated by the professors in
Gottingen, for, as early as 1866, he received
the first prize for medical treatise of i'm
portance, and in the same year, although
still student, he was appointed assistant
to the pathological museum connected
with the university. At the conclusion Of
his studies, in 1866, he passed the examine
ton with great distinction, and, after an
employment of short duration in the ca
pacity of assistant physician in Ham
burg hospital, he practiced his profession
in some of the little German country
towns. At the beginning of the Franco
Prussian war, DR.. Koch went to the front
as surgeon of Prussian regiment. Peace
being concluded, he returned to practice in
a small Silesian town called Wollstein.
Here DIR. Koch, excluded from all connec-
ton with the scientific world at large,
spent most of his time in meteorological in
vestigations, that led to the most impor-
tant discovery of the bacillus anthracis. I"
the cause of anthrax or carbuncle. He
kept his work q profound secret till it was
entirely completed. and by its publication
in 1876 caused a great sensation in the
medical world. It was then that the cele-
brated Professor Cohn, in Breslau, him.
self bacteriologist of note, to whom DR..
Koch first communicated the result of his
experiments, sent post haste to one
of his assistants and. said: Now
you 60 Immediately to Koch; that
man has made q wonderful discov-
cry, which, for its simplicity and
the exactness of its method, deserves the
greatest admiration, especially as Koch
has done it all alone bv himself, and eyerv-
thing is complete. There is nothing to add
to it. consider it the greatest discovery
on the subject of bacteriology, and am
convinced that this man Koch will sur
prise and Guido all of US by his further
discoveries"
On the recommendation of DIR. Cohn,
Koch was then made member of the inn
perial board of health and called to Ber-
lin. He proved that erysipelas and py@-
mia originated from bacilli, and when in
1858 the cholera appeared in Egypt, he was
sent there by the government to study the
scourge. He proceeded from Egypt to In
dia, and the result of his labors was the
discovery of the ''coma-bacillus"-the
originator of cholera. Called as profess
sor to the chair of hygiene at the Berlin
university, Koch undertook to investigate
the tuberculous disease, and for his la6ors
was rewarded by the discovery of the
bacillus which causes these terrible all
ments to the human race. This led in due
time to the discovery of his new cure In
conclusion may add that DR.. Koch is the
author of thirty scientific essays and re-
ports, most of which appeared in the
leading medical journals Of Germany, and
have been translated into other modern
languages. ALEXANDER Won HAHN.