THE III K OF PASTEUR 



tcridia were reabsorbed by the blood, and the hen recovered 

 completely. 



This was, indeed, a moBt suggestive experiment, proving 

 that the mere fall of temperature from 42° C. (the tempera- 

 ture of hens) to 38° C. was sufficient to cause a receptive con- 

 dition ; the hen, brought down by immersion to the tempera- 

 ture of rabbits or guinea-pigs, became a victim like them. 



Between Sedillot's enthusiasm and Colin' B perpetual contra- 

 diction, many attentive surgeons and physicians were taking 

 a middle course, watching for Pasteur's results and ultimately 

 accepting them with admiration. Such was the state of mind 

 of M. Lereboullet, an editor of the- Weekly Gazette of Medi- 

 cine and Surgery, who wrote in an account of the .' mic de 

 M-'decino meeting that " those facts throw a new light on the 

 theory of the genesis and development of the bacillus anthracis. 

 They will be ascertained and verified by other experimentalists. 

 and it seems very probable that M. Pasteur, who I brings 

 any premature or conjectural assertion to the academic tribune, 

 will deduce from them conclusions of the greatest interest con- 

 cerning the etiology of virulent diseases." 



But even to those who admired Pasteur as much as did M. 

 Lereboullet, it did not seem that such an important part should 

 immediately be attributed to microbes. Towards the end of 

 his report (dated March 22, 1878) he reminded his readers that 

 a discussion was open at the Academic de M^decine, and that 

 the surgeon, Lexm Le Fort, did not admit the germ theory in 

 its entirety. M. Le Fort recognized " all the servic « rend< 

 to Burgery by laboratory Btudies, chiefly by calling d to 



rtaill accidents of WOOnda and Bores, and by provoking new 

 !:■ - with a vi.-w to improving methods of i Qg and 



bandagio " Like all his colleagues at th< y, and 



like our eminent master, M. Scdillot," added M. Lereboullet, 

 " M. Le Tort renders homage to the work of M. Pasteur; hut 

 he remains within his rights as a practitioner and - his 



opinion as to leral application to Burgi ry." 



This was a T»iii*l way of putting it ; M . rt's words were, 



"That theory, in its applications to clinical sure rv _ j s abso- 

 lutely unacceptable." For him, the original purulent infection, 

 though e from tin wound, was horn under the influence 



of | 1 and local phenomena within the patient, and not 



outside him. He believed that the economy had the pov 

 under various influences, to produce purulent infection. A 



