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INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
consequences of a difference of four degrees he had struck a t the heart of one of the most important methods of control even yet discovered. There were still some flings a t Pasteur, even as an accepted Academician. With great passion Pasteur turned upon his detractors in the Academy. He cried out: I say it with no sham modesty, I have considered that my only right to a seat in this place is that given me by your great kindness, for I have no medical knowledge. I, therefore, consider that I must be more scrupulously exact than anyone else in the presentations which I have the honor to make to you. I should promptly lose all credit if I brought you erroneous or merely doubtful facts. If ever I am mistaken-a thing which may happen to the most scrupulous-it is because my good faith has been greatly surprised. I have come among you with a program to follow which demands accuracy a t every step. I can tell you my program in two words. I have sought for twenty years, and I am still seeking “spontaneous generation,” properly so called. If God permit I shall seek for twenty years and more.the spontaneous generation of transmissible diseases. In these difficult researches, while sternly depreciating frivolous contradictions, I only feel esteem and gratitude towards those who may warn me if I should be in error. Thus Pasteur laid down the platform of every research chemist, as he stood a t the threshold of his career as a medical Academician. The hospital from now on claimed him more than did his physiological laboratory. He attacked the problem of bubonic plague; in the humble farmyards he found hens dead on their nests from chicken cholera. He had a heart for poor farmers, for his ancestors had been serfs. He isolated the chicken cholera germ and observed “the prodigious faculty of multiplication of microorganisms” when grown in a suitable culture medium. He noticed that the smallest drop of the infected culture medium on a‘crumb of bread caused the death of a hen. He noticed that the bacteria grew in the hen’s intestinal canal and in the excreta spread infection to other hens. He was now on the trail of the method of the spread of typhoid, and yet
Vol. 15, No. 1
many physicians had>sneereda t his ideas by declaring that “such mad gossip would one day lead to the notion that even typhoid was a germ disease.” Pasteur’s genius for observation now brought out into the light one of the most important of medical discoveries. It marks the passing of his interests from the laboratory to the clinic, and marks the initiation of an entirely new field of medical technic. Pasteur accidentally inoculated a hen with chicken cholera microbes that had stood in the laboratory for several weeks. He saw her become ill and then recover. It was a new experience, and he immediately reinoculated the hen with fresh virus. Fresh virus had never before failed to kill a hen, but this time it did fail. What could have attenuated the activity of the microbe? Looking backward, we can easily see that here Pasteur first picked up the trail of discovering the nature of vaccine. Inoculation of the attenuated germs made it impossible for the freshculture germs to kill the vaccinated hens although all others speedily died. I n a spirit of incomparable enthusiasm and happiness he set to work to apply what he had found in a farmyard to the contagious ills of mankind. Mankind has always feared death by a mad dog’s bite. In Mexico overseers of brush cutters go into the brush and simulate the cry of a mad coyote to make their workmen leap to tasks that must be accomplished before they can quit that neighborhood. What a glad day for the world, then, was it for fond parents to lead the victim of a mad dog’s bite to Pasteur and have him cured! The method had already been discovered in the case of chicken cholera and had been applied in the case of a splenic fever plague. For his work on carrying the theory on over into the case of rabies, Pasteur won himself a place as a world-wide hero. No wonder Huxley declared in a lecture a t the London Royal Society: “Pasteur’s discoveries alone suffice to cover the war indemnity of five milliards paid by France to Germany in 1870.”
Priestley Centennial, Northumberland, Pa., July 31 to August 1, 1874 Among the most prized of the historical relics in the Chandler Chemical Museum of Columbia University are seven photograph negatives (6 X Sin.) taken by Prof. Louis H. Laudy, of Columbia College, a t the Priestley Centennial a t Northumberland, Pa., in 1874. These negatives, which are the earliest photographic reminiscences of any meeting of American chemists, are the remainder and the more valuable of the original twelve plates described on page 465 of Vol. V of the American Chemist (1874-1875). They comprise (1) a large group of 70 attending chemists and visitors (see opposite page), (2) a small Columbia College group of 19 chemists and visitors, (3) a photograph of two tables of chemical apparatus that belonged to Dr. Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, (4)a photograph of a table of Priestley’s electrical apparatus, (5) a photograph of a table of miscellaneous apparatus (telescope, magic lantern, orrery, etc.) that belonged to Priestley, (6) a photograph of manuscripts, books, and other Priestley relics, with the Stewart portrait of Priestley, (7) a smaller (5 X 6 in.) photograph of an old print showing the destruction of Priestley’s house and laboratory during the Birmingham riots of July 14, 1791. The Chandler Museum has arranged that members and SOCIZTY may obtain unfriends of the AMERICANCHEMICAL mounted mat prints from these interesting old but clear negatives a t a nominal cost of 35 cents apiece, including first-class postage and packing. The two group photographs make excel-
lent enlargements for a laboratory, office, or lecture room; they can be obtained for the 14 X 17 in. size a t $1.50 a piece, including postage and packing. Of the chemists and visitors in the large group, about 55 of the 70 have been identified. Among those identified are T.S. Hunt, J. L. Smith, F. W. Clarke, C. P. Chandler (all of these former presidents of the AMERICANCHEMICAL SOCIETY), E. N. Horsford, €3. Silliman, Jr., H. C. Bolton, E. Waller, E. L. Youman, C. A. Joy, S. P. Sharples, R. C. Kedzie, T. M. Drowne, P. W. Bedford, A. A. Breneman, W. H. Chandler, J. P. Remington, and many others. Owing to the fact that all the attending chemists were not in the group and that several unknown visitors were included in the picture, the identification of all the faces has not been possible. It is hoped that with the distribution of the picture among American chemists, other identifications may be made. Of the Columbia group, 18 of the 19 have been identified. A key to each of the group photographs ordered will be included along with the print. Applications with remittances for the photographs should be addressed to T. I,. Schultze, 297 Fulton St., Brooklyn, N. Y. In ordering photographs, the number of the negative according to the foregoing list should be indicated. These negatives will be left in the hands of the photographer only until March 1 next. Orders to be filled by him must be received before that date. [c.A. BROWNEA N D RALPHH. McKEE.]
I-E.
.;E HBDRICK
2-E. 1.. HORS~ORD 3-T. $3. HUNT +J. I,. SMITH 5-B. SILLIMAN 6-H.
COPPEh T. R . PYNCHON 8-THOS. LYON BUTTON ~-CONYERS
7-REV.
101112-W. M. ILES 1314-E. J. HALLOCK 15-W. H. S. THOREURN 16-JOBN A. CHURCH 1718-s. ST. JOHN
19-H. C. BOLTON 20-C. F. CHANDLER 21-E. WALLER 22-ARTHUR MACY 23-H. G. TORRHY L. YOUMANS 25-W. K. KEDZIE 26-C. A. JOY 27-M. S. THOMPSON 28-S. P. SHARPLES 293031-J. PRIESTLEY 32-S. H. DOUGLASS 33-J. 31. MAISCH 34-R. C. KEDZIH 35-M. B. PRIESTLEY 36-DAVID TAGGART
37-F. HOFFMAN 38-E. T. COX 39-C. G. WHEELER 404 14243-P. W. BEDFORD 44-W. W. DANIELS 45-H. B. NASON 4 6 - ~ . P. S. STEWART 47-T. G. WORMLEY 48-F. W. CLARXE 49-A. A. BRENEMAN 50-C. S. ALLEN 5152-
53-H. 54-
ENDEMAN
55-P. 56-A. 57-C.
FRAZER, JR. H . GALLATIN H. CHANDLER 58-TRAILL GREEN 596&-W. H. CHANDLER 6 162-J P. REMINGTON 6364-E. W. HTLGARD 65-A. R.LEEDS 66-
67-T. 68-P. 6970-
M . ISROWNE H. VANDER-WEYDE
