THEODORE TRONCHIN 1 77 



storm blew over, and, being a voluminous correspondent, sounded the 

 praises of his physician on all sides, spreading the name of Tronchin 

 among the great of every country — "as wise as Esculapius, as he is 

 handsome as Apollo." In one of his letters he writes "he understands 

 the mind; he is a great physician." From Tronchin's letters of advice 

 to his patient and from entries in his journal, we may be sure that the 

 great physician did thoroughly understand the smallness of soul of the 

 old rascal. Much as he appreciated the power of mind and keenness 

 of wit of Voltaire, Tronchin's own deeply-rooted character forbade any 

 deception as to the real shallowness of the philosopher's nature. The 

 correspondence between the two men throws light upon a most inter- 

 esting side of Voltaire's life, and explains the political origin of many 

 of the philosopher's reputed illnesses. 



The other factor in the spread of Tronchin's fame was his visit to 

 Paris in 1756 to inoculate the Due de Chartres. At this day it is difficult 

 to realize the terrible and ever-present scourge of smallpox before the 

 discovery of Jenner. Of every two children born one would some time 

 die of the disease. A person whose face was unmarked by pits was the 

 exception. Many of the famous beauties of the day, whose portraits 

 do not to us confirm the excessive laudation of their admirers, owed not 

 a little of their repute to the mere fact of a complexion unscarred by pits 

 of smallpox. The constant dread of the disease was intensified from 

 time to time by its increase from endemic to epidemic proportions. In 

 Paris in the year 1723 not less than 23,000 persons died from this disease. 



The introduction to Europe of the practice of inoculation against 

 smallpox was due, as is well known, to Lady Wortley Montague, wife 

 of the English ambassador to Constantinople, who in 1718 had her son 

 so protected in the East, and in 172 1 her other child, after returning home. 

 In England the practice met with fairly ready acceptance, as it did in 

 America, owing to the support of Cotton Mather and Dr. Zabdiel Boyl- 

 ston. On the continent the Low Countries adopted this method of 

 protection. In 1748 Tronchin inoculated his oldest son, and so great 

 became his skill in this procedure that he soon became noted as the 

 ablest inoculator on the continent, and his advocacy did much to extend 

 the practice in Holland and later in Switzerland. His success was due 



