NOTES 669 



Roman Brigandage— New Style (Sir R. Ross) 



Men of science have many troubles to contend with, and perhaps the most 

 disheartening of these is due to the fact that, if after much labour they succeed in 

 making some important discovery, then certain brigands often fall upon them in 

 the darkness and rob them of their credit. Prof. Dr. Pietro Canalis of the Institute 

 of Hygiene in the University of Genoa has recently reconsidered 1 and further 

 exposed an old attempt of this kind — which, fortunately, failed. 



One of the scientific discoveries of the most direct importance to humanity ever 

 made was that of the cause of malaria, by Dr. A. Laveran in 1880. For five years 

 no one believed him ; and the scientists in Rome (which is very fortunately situated 

 for the study of malaria) led the way in this scepticism because they then accepted 

 an extraordinarily spurious speculation which attributed the disease to a bacillus. 

 Later, however, when the evidence for Laveran's protozoal parasite became over- 

 whelming, largely in consequence of the work of Canalis, they turned round, added 

 a few secondary details, and then claimed Laveran's discovery as their own t I 

 am, of course, familiar with the subject because I frequently lecture upon it ; and 

 have no hesitation in pronouncing the piracy to be one of the most impudent ever 

 attempted. Laveran has frequently exposed it in his books on malaria, but the 

 Roman bandits still persist in their falsifications, and it is in reply to the last of 

 these that Prof. Canalis has written his recent article. 



I may as well take the opportunity to quote some hitherto unpublished letters 

 from Koch, Laveran, and Lord Lister upon what was, if possible, a still more 

 impudent piracy, by some of the same group of scientific pretenders — this time, of 

 my own work on malaria. That work was done between 1895 and 1899, mostly in 

 India, and proved that the parasites of malaria pass an " alternate generation " in 

 certain mosquitoes — this being the first time that the law of metaxeny or alternating 

 generation was extended to the protozoa, thus opening a new door for parasitology, 

 showing exactly how the infection of this most important disease is conveyed, and 

 indicating the kind of mosquito which conveys it. But my work was frequently 

 interrupted by various circumstances, 2 and before it was completed, Profs. 

 Bignami, Bastianelli, and Grassi of Rome, who had previously disbelieved in the 

 mosquito hypothesis, read my preliminary publications, obtained some of my 

 specimens which I had sent from India to England, and then proceeded to discover 

 my discovery independently for themselves. Their writings are the most perfect 

 models of intentional scientific plagiarism ever printed, and the book of the last- 

 named ingenious gentleman, entitled Studi di uno Zoologo sulla Malaria, published 

 by the R. Accademia dei Lincei (sic) in 1900, commences with many pages of abuse 

 of my work with falsifications precisely of the same indescribable nature as the 

 Germans now employ against the Allies in connection with the war ! 



Unscrupulous persons can easily do this kind of thing in science, where there 

 are seldom more than three or four persons who know the facts. On February 10, 

 1 901, however, Robert Koch, who was of course intimately acquainted with the 

 whole subject and had been the first to confirm my work, wrote to me : 



" In my opinion it is not permissible to take account of the moral defects of a 

 man even if he is a rogue, in considering his scientific deserts so far as he possesses 



1 " Per una piu completa ed esatta storia sugli studi della malaria," Llgiena 

 Modema, Genova, Novembre 1916. 



* See my Nobel Lecture, Journ. Roy. Army Medical Corps, London, April, 

 May, June, 1905 ; and also my Prevention of Malaria (John Murray), London, 

 1910, 1911. 



