Palla Ákos szerk.: Az Országos Orvostörténeti Könyvtár közleményei 29. (Budapest, 1963)
Dr. Harangby László: Mecsnyikov munkássága és jelentősége az orvostudományban
programmes were built up on his internal conviction. He was not at all influenced by either the running speed of bactcorilogy of those times, or the noisy pretence of unconditional success required by the general public. Such a man could not permanently fit into the teaching staff of the Odessa University of those times, and thus there is nothing to be wondered at the fact of his soon settling in Sicily, and he started there-in the year of 1883-such experiments which made his activity of eternal value. From this time his second wife had been his tireless and devoted collaborator in his work. Mechnikov married for the second time when his desire was flaming up again with all force at Odessa. His second wife was almost quite a child and she played in his life a quite different part from that of his first wife. The deep love he felt for his first wife inspired his activity even it its chade, her memory and her painful evanescene stimulated him without interruption to the protection of life and the defeat of death; it was She who created Mechnikov, on the other hand, Mechnikov created-so to say-the mental world of his second wife. She was nothing but a child, enthusiastic about him, but he formed her into a faithful collaborator in his work, and enthusiastic about natural science. Through her he could always see the radiance and completness of life at his own side. We have discussed above-at some length.—Mechnikov' s mental and emotional life, and as well as his first seemingly unsuccessful years of research, but we can appriciate on this particular basis the special role he played among the pioneers of bacteriology and it was only thus that we can be convinced about how wrong those statement were which tried to demonstrate Mechnikov as a wholly unimportant individual and scientist. Just a few short lines might be found in some of the text-books about Mechnikov's activity. They read mainly as follows: „Mechnikov demonstrated the function of phagocytes, moreover he was the first who inoculated syphilis into monkeys and explained senile decay by poisoning through the rotting of intestines." This ennumeration is essentially true, although just as twisted as the deformed picture, drawn by some medical biographists, trying to be original at all costs, of the bearded and extravagant scientist, adored by his pupils. That is surely not the way, to characterise Mechnikov % activity since his activity does not mean a standpoint taken up or
