Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 89-91. (Budapest, 1980)

Vita - Nuland, Sherwin B.: The Enigma of Semmelweis — an Interpretation

about what the facts are and what they mean. But such disagreement is, of course, exactly what a historian's work is all about. Unlike scientific data, the facts of history cannot be reproduced in an observable setting, and a blurred interface of interpretation obscures reality at the same time that it has the potential to illuminate it. Maybe that is why the study of the past fascinates so many of us who have been trained primarily as scientists. Sherwin B. Nuland, M. D„ F.A.C.S. The Editorial Board has highly appreciated Sherwin B. Nuland's paper contributing to the still unsettled debate on Semmelweis' illness. Since it appeared after our 83-84 (1978) issue had been put in press, unfortunately we could not insert it in the material of the experts' debate. We have to remark that in the course of the debate, too, the possibility of Pick's atrophy and Alzheimer's disease (Jenő Juhász, István Benedek) had arisen. Doctor Nuland's standpoint differs from I. Benedek's who invariably insists that dementia paralytica is the most probable diagnosis. The debate has not yet settled, Benedek's view has not met with general acceptance among Hungarian experts, either. We thought best to publish the writings of the doctors Nuland and Benedek together, the personal tone of which would animate professional stand-taking without impairing the objective debate. Both Nuland and Benedek point out the psychopathic traits of Semmelweis' premorbid period, the characterization of the psychiartic picture, however, due perhaps to the misunderstanding of the text, has remained a subject of polemic. (Ed.)