Sinclair, Sir William J.: Semmelweis. His Life and his Doctrine (Manchester, 1909)
VII. Last Illness and Death
SPREAD OF DOCTRINE—SPATH 271 Medical Society, and he contributed summaries of obstetrical publications, and reviews of foreign obstetric literature, to certain medical journals. Intellectually Späth appears to have stood on a much higher level than Klein, and as an opponent of Semmelweis he was fair, exact, and conscientious compared with Carl Braun; but he was too timid and cautious to advocate unpopular opinions, or support principles until they became the accepted doctrines of the majority. Späth was not a member of the staff of the Lying-in Hospital at the time when Semmelweis made known his discovery, but he appears to have been one of the first to recognise the truth of the doctrine, and he began quietly to apply the Semmelweis prophylaxis while professing to oppose the doctrine, or at least to ignore it. Before the introduction of the new prophylaxis Späth had reached a mortality of 16 per cent, in the Second Division; after the application of the Semmelweis prophylaxis the mortality suddenly fell to o'5 per cent. This was a remarkable achievement on the part of Späth, considering the shocking neglect of all sanitary arrangements in the Clinic when he took office as Director. In February, 1864, Späth read a long contribution to the Transactions of the Vienna Medical Society entitled : “ Die Vorkommnise des Wiener Gebärhauses während der letzten 30 Jahren mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Puerperalerkrankungen.” The following is a summary of the relevant portion :—After a historical critical review, he gave an account of the proceedings of Dr. Semmelweis, assistant in the First Obstetric Clinic, in May, 1847, by which the health conditions of the patients were improved in a remarkably rapid manner, so that the mortality in the year 1848 finally stood at 12 per cent., a point to which it had never once descended since the directorship of Klein began in 1823. . . . The years 1852, 1854 ar>d 1855 were distinguished by a high mortality, viz., in the First Clinic 4 per cent., 91 per cent, and 5 4 per cent. The last endemics occurred in both Clinics from October, 1861, to February, 1862, and
