LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 129 



And then he studied relapsing fever in order to 

 answer Baumgarten's objections, affirming that there 

 was no phagocytic reaction in that disease, though it 

 almost invariably ended in recovery. Experiments 

 on man not being possible, Metchnikoff procured 

 some monkeys, which he inoculated with relapsing 

 fever, and ascertained that Baumgarten's error was 

 due to the fact that he had only looked for phago- 

 cytosis in the patient's blood, whilst it really took 

 place in the spleen. 



These researches on erysipelas and relapsing fever 

 were published in Virchow's Archives in 1887. Besides 

 this scientific work, he was also giving lectures on 

 bacteriology to some physicians, and was in full pro- 

 ductive activity when external opposition and the 

 discord among his collaborators in the Institute itself 

 forced upon him the conviction that he could remain 

 there no longer. 



At that very moment the Prince of Oldenburg, 

 having founded a Bacteriological Institute at Peters- 

 burg, invited Metchnikoff to take charge of it. He 

 had to refuse, fearing the Northern climate for my 

 health, and knowing from experience that it was 

 impossible for a layman to manage an Institute with 

 a medical staff. Yet he could not do without a 

 laboratory. Seeing no possibility of having one in 

 Russia, he decided to look abroad for a refuge and a 

 laboratory. 



" Having learnt from experience at Odessa," he 

 wrote, " how difficult was the struggle against an 

 opposition coming from all sides and devoid of 

 reasonable causes, I preferred to go abroad to look 

 for a peaceful shelter for my scientific researches." 



We were no longer held back by family considera- 



K 



