Sinclair, Sir William J.: Semmelweis. His Life and his Doctrine (Manchester, 1909)

VI. Publication or "Die Aetiologie"

230

AFTER PUBLICATION

copies to Routh, Copland, Simpson, and Murphy, and others.

To the Academy of the Sciences of Buda-Pesth he presented a copy accompanied by a letter written in the Hungarian language. In the course of the letter he said : “ Through the favour of divine providence it has been granted to me to discover the true character of this malady which has hitherto been considered epidemic, and on the basis of that discovery to prevent the occurrence of the disease, which is the chief consideration.

. . . Fate so ordained that this discovery was made during the time when, as assistant, I was residing in the Vienna Lying-in Hospital far from my Fatherland. This is the reason why my discovery was first communicated to the German colleagues. Since my return home I have laid my experience before the Hungarian brethren and published my theories concerning puerperal fever in the Orvosi Hetilap.

“ Whilst my Lehre met with no opposition here, it was much attacked and misrepresented in Germany.

“ My duty to humanity therefore requires me once more to explain my theories, and to demonstrate the insignificance of the objections raised against them.”

Semmelweis received many friendly letters in acknowledgment of the gift of his book, and he quotes some of them in the “ Open Letter to all the Professors of Midwifery.” The letter of Dr. Kugelmann of Hanover must have given him much pleasure. Kugelmann had been a student of v. Siebold’s at Göttingen, and he had also worked under Michaelis at Kiel, so Semmelweis found in him a sympathetic reader. In the course of his letter Kugelmann said: “ Permit me further ... to express the holy joy (heilige Freude) with which I studied your work, Die ALtiologie. ... In the course of a conversation on the subject with a colleague here, I felt myself compelled to declare: This man is a second Jenner; may his services receive a similar recognition and his efforts bring him the enjoyment of a similar satisfaction. ...”