Sinclair, Sir William J.: Semmelweis. His Life and his Doctrine (Manchester, 1909)
VII. Last Illness and Death
292 SCANZONI of puerperal fever by contagion has been rendered untenable by Hirsch: it was Skoda who first published the incomplete doctrine of Semmelweis : the corruption of the atmosphere is the most common cause of puerperal infection, and Braun and Späth of Vienna have obtained a magnificent success with their ventilation apparatus; Semmelweis, not Scanzoni, felt compelled to modify his opinions regarding the etiological factors of puerperal fever : Scanzoni was right after all in his opinion about the miasmatic influences at work in lying-in hispitals. v. Waldheim very clearly and thoughtfully remarks on this last appearance of Scanzoni: “Scanzoni had perhaps succeeded in deceiving his contemporaries as he certainly deceived his assistants, his students, and the members of the Würzburg faculty; perhaps he even came to believe the lies with which he crammed other men, but he could not deceive posterity. We have all his utterances complete before us, and our verdict on his behaviour can be nothing short of crushing.” When we recall the persistent attacks of Scanzoni upon Semmelweis, both direct and indirect, and the torture which he inflicted upon the genial and unselfish author of the HHiologie through a long series of years, we welcome the uncompromising judgment of v. Waldheim with which we heartily simpathize. It is “la justice et la verité.” By way of contrast with the attitude of Scanzoni v. Waldheim quotes from Puschman the story of Peter Frank which we welcome as a relief. Peter Frank was a famous character of the old Medical School of Vienna. He admitted in a quite straight-forward and honest way when he had made a mistake. His son Joseph used to tell that nothing ever pleased his father better than to have to anounce to his students : “Gentlemen, strike out all these passages in my book ! When I wrote them I thought they were true: now I am convinced of the very reverse.”
