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

IV. Spread of the Doctrine During the Vienna Period

HEBRA’S SECOND ARTICLE

79

lution had passed, Hebra, who had also been a soldier of the Academic Legion, published a second article as a contribution to the propaganda for the spread of the principles and practice of Semmelweis. This article was also published in the Transactions of the Medical Society of Vienna.

The second article was as follows : —

CONTINUATION OF THE EXPERIENCES CONCERNING THE ETIOLOGY OF EPIDEMIC PUERPERAL FEVER IN THE LYING-IN HOSPITAL.

“ In the December number of this Journal in 1847 there was published the highly important experience of Dr. Semmelweis, Assistant in the first Obstetric Clinic, with regard to the causation of the epidemic puerperal fever which occurs in lying-in institutions.

This experience consists (as the readers of this Journal will remember) in this, that lying-in women become ill especially when they have been examined (touchirt) by medical men who have had their hands rendered unclean by examinations of dead bodies, and have only washed them in the ordinary way, while no cases of illness, or very few, have occurred when the examining hands had first been washed in a watery solution of chloride of lime.

This highly important discovery, which is worthy of a place beside that of Jenner’s small-pox vaccination, has not only received complete confirmation in our lying-in hospital, but assenting voices have been raised in distant foreign lands expressing belief in the correctness of the theory of Semmelweis. Among the letters received are those from Michaelis of Kiel and Tilanus of Amsterdam, from which especially we select corroborative testimony. Still in order to obtain for this discovery its full influence we would, in the most friendly manner, request all the directors of lying-in hospitals to set investigations on foot and to send the results obtained to the Editor of this Journal whether they support or refute the theory.”