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CHAPTER XVIII 



Messina — Inception of the phagocyte theory — Encouragement from 

 Virchow and Kleinenberg — First paper on phagocytosis at the 

 Odessa Congress in 1883 — ^The question of Immunity — Article in 

 Virchow's Archiv, 1884. 



At Messina, we settled in a suburb, the Ringo, on the 

 quay of the Straits, in a small flat with a garden and 

 a splendid view over the sea. We did not have 

 much room, and the laboratory had to be installed in 

 the drawing-room, but, on the other hand, Elie only 

 had to cross the quay in order to find the fisherman 

 who provided him with the material needed for his 

 researches and with whom we frequently went sailing. 

 MetchnikofE loved Messina, with its rich marine 

 fauna and beautiful scenery. The splendid view of 

 the sea and the ca]m outline of the Calabrian coast 

 across the Straits delighted him. He enjoyed it all 

 the more after the many excitements of life at the 

 University, and eagerly gave himself up to his 

 researches. Often, in later years, he delighted to 

 recall memories of that period, the more so that this 

 was connected with the principal phase of scientific 

 activity which led to the formation of his phagocyte 

 theory. After the earthquake in 1908, he wrote a 

 few pages on Messina and ended his article by the 

 following lines : 



Thus it was in Messina that the great event of my 

 scientific life took place. A zoologist until then, I suddenly 



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