﻿NOGUCHI 
  — 
  FLEXNER 
  601 
  

  

  The 
  department 
  of 
  pathology 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  Pennsylvania 
  

   between 
  1900 
  and 
  1903 
  was 
  carrying 
  a 
  heavy 
  burden 
  of 
  routine, 
  

   while 
  the 
  staff 
  was 
  young 
  and 
  small 
  in 
  size. 
  Noguchi 
  was 
  exempted 
  

   from 
  these 
  duties, 
  not 
  only 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  bar 
  of 
  language, 
  but 
  

   because 
  his 
  talents 
  as 
  an 
  investigator 
  were 
  apparent 
  to 
  his 
  colleagues, 
  

   who 
  admired 
  him 
  for 
  his 
  gifts 
  and 
  loved 
  him 
  for 
  his 
  ingratiating 
  

   personal 
  qualities. 
  Very 
  soon 
  Noguchi 
  was 
  a 
  marked 
  man 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  university, 
  and 
  even 
  throughout 
  the 
  world. 
  These 
  captivating 
  

   individual 
  traits 
  never 
  diminished. 
  Every 
  one 
  who 
  came 
  within 
  

   their 
  influence 
  felt 
  them 
  and 
  was 
  impressed 
  with 
  a 
  Idnd 
  of 
  noble 
  

   simplicity 
  and 
  dignity 
  of 
  personality 
  which 
  scientific 
  success, 
  no 
  

   matter 
  how 
  great, 
  never 
  impaired. 
  Part 
  of 
  his 
  outstanding 
  position 
  

   as 
  a 
  world 
  figure 
  arose 
  from 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  living 
  charm 
  of 
  manner 
  and 
  

   conduct, 
  raised 
  of 
  course 
  to 
  high 
  power 
  by 
  his 
  eminence 
  as 
  a 
  scientific 
  

   investigator. 
  

  

  The 
  Rockefeller 
  Institute 
  for 
  Medical 
  Research 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  was 
  

   opened 
  in 
  1904. 
  The 
  year 
  intervening 
  between 
  the 
  transition 
  of 
  

   Noguchi 
  from 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  Pennsylvania 
  to 
  New 
  York 
  was 
  

   spent 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  Copenhagen. 
  The 
  choice 
  of 
  place 
  to 
  study 
  was 
  de- 
  

   termined 
  by 
  the 
  recent 
  publications 
  of 
  Madsen 
  and 
  Arrhenius 
  on 
  

   immunochemistry, 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  sought 
  to 
  range 
  immunological 
  

   processes 
  with 
  physicochemical 
  reactions. 
  Noguchi 
  already 
  pos- 
  

   sessed 
  an 
  understanding 
  of 
  the 
  opposing 
  chemical 
  view, 
  as 
  embraced 
  

   in 
  the 
  side 
  chain 
  theory 
  of 
  Ehrlich. 
  The 
  incident 
  led, 
  however, 
  to 
  

   a 
  misunderstanding 
  not 
  without 
  diverting 
  features. 
  Ehrlich 
  had 
  

   praised 
  the 
  venom 
  work, 
  which 
  fitted 
  in 
  well 
  with 
  his 
  theory; 
  hence 
  

   he 
  interpreted 
  Noguchi's 
  choice 
  of 
  Copenhagen 
  as 
  a 
  criticism 
  and 
  

   defection. 
  All 
  this 
  came 
  out 
  one 
  day 
  in 
  Emil 
  Fischer's 
  laboratory 
  

   in 
  Berlin, 
  where 
  the 
  writer 
  was 
  spending 
  a 
  semester. 
  Ehrlich 
  walked 
  

   him 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  in 
  the 
  aisle 
  between 
  the 
  long 
  rows 
  of 
  work 
  tables 
  

   expostulating 
  ever 
  more 
  excitedly. 
  At 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  exhortation, 
  

   which 
  had 
  stopped 
  all 
  work 
  going 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  room, 
  Fischer 
  entered 
  

   from 
  his 
  private 
  laboratory, 
  having 
  been 
  attracted 
  by 
  the 
  uproar. 
  

   The 
  two 
  friends 
  greeted 
  each 
  other 
  warmly, 
  and 
  Ehrlich, 
  realizing 
  

   the 
  commotion 
  he 
  had 
  caused, 
  laughed 
  and 
  said 
  to 
  Fischer, 
  "Why 
  

   do 
  you 
  not 
  have 
  me 
  thrown 
  out?" 
  To 
  which 
  the 
  latter 
  replied, 
  

   "Oh, 
  we 
  are 
  very 
  tolerant 
  here." 
  Ehrlich 
  accepted 
  the 
  explanation 
  

   offered 
  and 
  nothing 
  more 
  came 
  of 
  the 
  episode. 
  Noguchi 
  remained 
  

   rather 
  in 
  the 
  Ehrlich 
  camp 
  of 
  immunologists, 
  although 
  he 
  concerned 
  

   himself 
  little 
  with 
  the 
  merely 
  theoretical 
  basis 
  of 
  immunity. 
  With 
  

   the 
  opening 
  of 
  the 
  Rockefeller 
  Institute, 
  Noguchi 
  continued 
  for 
  a 
  

   time 
  his 
  studies 
  on 
  the 
  Wassermann 
  reaction 
  begun 
  with 
  Madsen, 
  

   and 
  devised 
  a 
  new 
  method 
  for 
  its 
  application 
  in 
  which 
  an 
  antihuman 
  

   system 
  is 
  employed. 
  Valuable 
  as 
  this 
  contribution 
  proved 
  to 
  be. 
  

  

  