Sinclair, Sir William J.: Semmelweis. His Life and his Doctrine (Manchester, 1909)
I. Introduction
6 SEMMELWEIS of priority of discovery in certain respects, especially regarding the mistaken and altogether groundless claims put forward in recent years for Oliver Wendell Holmes. Only misapprehension of the scientific points at issue, in the absence of patient study of the history of midwifery, could have made such pretensions possible. In order to explain the position of Holmes it was necessary to give a short account of the earlier and vastly more important contributions of British Obstetricians, and consequently an attempt is here made to differentiate and to indicate the pre-eminent position of British midwifery in regard to the doctrine of contagion in puerperal fever. Among the separately published and accessible biographies by personal friends of Semmelweis or by writers who obtained information from friends and contemporaries of Semmelweis, the most important is that of Hegar which appeared in 1882. Hegar had the good fortune to obtain from Professor Tauffer, of Buda-Pesth, a specially prepared translation from the Hungarian of the Denkrede of Dr. Fleischer, a former assistant to Semmelweis, delivered in 1872. Hegar’s monograph is entitled: “Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis, Sein Leben and Seine Lehre.” Dr. Jacob Bruck, of Buda-Pesth, wrote perhaps the most complete and appreciative of all the monographs. It appeared twenty years after the death of Semmelweis, but much direct evidence concerning the life and character of the man was still available and was judiciously used. The most recent biography is that of v. Waldheim of Vienna, published in 1905. v. Waldheim’s work posseses some valuable features of its own. He is able to give the purport of conversations with the widow of Semmelweis and other elderly persons who could draw upon their memories for biographical details. v. Waldheim had also the special advantage of being able to peruse official documents belonging to the Ministry of Education, the University, and the General
