East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-06-21

animates thousands upon thousands
Of scientific men in both hemispheres
and drives them ever onward to the
highest possibilities in their natures.
Kepler as Fortune Teller.
The world has seen the astronomer
KepIer, who wonderfully enlarged
the boundaries of Its knowledge,
practising astrology and fortune-tell-
ing IN order to keep himself from
starvation.
1t has seen Herschel polishing the
Tens of his telescope with his own
bare hands. and, because to leave the
work unfinished would be to spoil It,
persisting at his task for 16 hours
at stretch, while his sister at meal
time put morsels of food In his
mouth and he continued his labor
without interruption.
Discovery Anu-Septic Principles.
Something, too, should be said of
the English surgeon, Joseph Lister,
exposing himself constantly to the
contagion from wounds and sores,
and finally discovering the antiseptic
principles which have revolutionized
surgery, and which have made II
practically unnecessary that anybody
else should expose himself to such
dangers. It must be remembered
that when Lord Lister made his ex-
periments the safeguards of steriliza-
ton, now a medical commonplace,
were uatterly unknown. What we
now do safely because Of his dis
coveries Later did at risk of his life.
And something should be said OF
man like Professor Campbell, OF
the University of Michigan, who lost
both his eyes in an experiment In
which he passed oxygen and hydro
gen over palladium black, but per-
sisted in his studies, and has since
risen to the highest honors.
Discovery Yellow Fever Mosquito.
The spirit of all these men, how
ever, and IF all their worthy fellow
lahorcrs, can he surmised, II not un-
derstood, by looking at the single life
of one young Baltimore doctor.
In the clinical amphitheater at
Johns Hopkins, I'm the city of Balti-
more, there is a tablet which reads:
In Memory of
JESSE WILLIAMS LAZEAR.
This tablet is there to do honor to
|, a noble soul, and to indicate to the
young men who day by day gaze at
It that La=car has preceded them in
the path it may some time be their
duty TO tread.
Iazear grew up in Baltimore, took
his doctors degree at Columbia, be-
came member of the medical staff
Of Johns Hopkins, married. settled
down and began practicing.
But in 1900 yellow fever called him
to Cuba. His fate beckoned to him.
He became an assistant surgeon in
the United States army. He became
one of the little group of unsurpas-
sable heroes who, under the memor-
able Leadership of Major Reed ex-
posed themselve to the stings of in
fcction-laden mosquitoes in order tc
| demonstrate the truth or the falsity
of the theory that the disease was
transmitted by mosquitoes, and by
mosquitoes only.
| But yellow fever was not transmit
ted through clothing or through air
The mosquito experiments were the
experiments that really penetrated tc
the secret. James Carroll came bach
| from them an invalid for life. Jesse
Lazear did not come back at ALL
He was working in the Las Anima.
hospital, and was expecting visi
from his wife and children. whom hi
had left in Baltimore, and from whom
he could not bear to be parted. Be,
fore they could arrive. the time fol
his experiment had come. He allow.
ed a mosquito to alight on his hand
to drink its fill, and to leave its viru.
In his veins. Twelve days later he
was dead. His wife and children hat
not come. He was "a years old.
When his memorial tablet was un
veiled 1t bore this statement.
Assistant Surgeon Lazear was tn,
first person to produce an undoubtet
case of experimental yellow fever
with the mosquito, and It was he who
first worked out the key to our pres
cnt knowledge that we can contro
this devastating disease. which ha.
been justly designated the plague o
the American continent"
TIL. n