Febetjaby 7, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



189 



tical reports published justify the belief that 

 when the treatment is instituted at an early 

 date after the bite, and is properly carried 

 out, its protective value is almost absolute. 

 At the Pasteur Institute in Paris 9,433 per- 

 sons were treated during the years 1886 to 

 1890, inclusive. The total mortality from 

 hydrophobia among those treated was con- 

 siderably less than one per cent. (0.61) . In 

 1890 416 persons were treated who had 

 been bitten by animals proved to be rabid, 

 and among these there was not a single 

 death. In 1891 the number of inoculations 

 was 1,539, with a mortality of 0.25%; in 



1892, 1,790 with a mortality of 0.22%; in 



1893, 1,648 with a mortality of 0.36%; in 



1894, 1,387 with a mortality of 0.50%. 

 There has been and is still a considerable 



amount of scepticism among members of 

 the medical profession, and others, as to 

 the practical value of Pasteur's inoculations 

 for the prevention of hydrophobia ; and some 

 physicians have even contended that the 

 disease known by this name is not the re- 

 sult of infection from the bite of a rabid 

 animal, but is a nervous affection due to 

 fear. The time at my disposal will not 

 permit me to present for your consideration 

 the experimental and clinical evidence upon 

 which I base the assertion that nothing in 

 the domain of science is more thoroughly 

 demonstrated than the fact that there is a 

 specific infectious disease known to us as 

 rabies, or hydrophobia, which may be com- 

 municated to man, or from one animal to 

 another, by the bite of a rabid animal; and 

 that Pasteur's inoculations prevent the de- 

 velopment of the disease in animals which 

 have been infected by the bite of a rabid 

 animal or by inoculations with infectious 

 material from the central nervous system. 

 This being the case, it is evident that there 

 is a scientific basis for Pasteur's method of 

 prophylaxis as applied to man, and his 

 published statistics give ample evidence of 

 the success of the method as carried out at 



the Pasteur Institute in Paris and else- 

 where. Great as have been the practical 

 results which have already followed Pas- 

 teur's brilliant discoveries, there is reason 

 tp believe that in the future still more will 

 be accomplished, especially in combatting 

 the infectious diseases of man. Having 

 pointed out the way, a multitude of earnest 

 investigators in various parts of the world 

 are now engaged in laboratory researches 

 relating to the cause, prevention and cure 

 of infectious diseases. Already, in the treat- 

 ment of diphtheria and of tetanus with blood 

 serum obtained from immune animals, re- 

 sults have been obtained of the highest im- 

 portance, and it seems probable that in the 

 near future other infectious diseases will 

 be cured by a specific treatment based upon 

 scientific information obtained by those who 

 have been following in the pathway marked 

 out by Pasteur, the illustrious pioneer in 

 this line of research. 



Geo. M. Stebnbeeg. 



HELMHOLTZ. 



Hermann Lttdwig Fekdinand, Babon 

 VON Helmholtz, was born at Potsdam on 

 August 31, 1821. 



In 1842 he received his decree in medi- 

 cine at Berlin, and entered the government 

 service as an army surgeon. 



In 1847 he published his essay on the 

 Conservation of Energy. 



In 1849 he was appointed professor of 

 physiology at Bonn. 



In 1851 he invented the Ophthalmoscope. 



In 1855 he was made professor of ana- 

 tomy and physiology at Bonn. 



In 1859 he was appointed to the same 

 chair at Heidelberg. 



In 1860 he was made one of the foreign 

 members of the Eoyal Society of London. 



In 1863 he published his great work on 

 the ' Sensations of Tone.' 



In 1866 the first edition of his ' Physiolo- 

 gical Optics ' was completed. 



