J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)
E. Réti: Darwin's Influence on Hungarian Medical Thought (1868—1918) 157 J. Antall, A. Faiudy and K. Kapronczay: József Fodor and Public Health in Hungary
i /¡_ 2 Medical History in Hungary 1972 (Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 6.) He was not idle at home either, he was engaged in hygienic investigations commissioned by the government. His scientific activity and role in public life was fully acknowledged: he was associate member (1883) and later member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1885) and attained the highest positions at the university, too, first as dean of the Medical Faculty and finally as rector magnificus. From 1876 onwards he took charge of the teaching of state medicine taking it over from János Rupp. His lectures were characterized by strict logical structure, consequentiality and a full presentation of the most recent researches into the natural sciences and their evaluation. The same principles characterized him as an examinator. Though his department worked under unfavourable circumstances, he continued his researches in the sphere of the hygienic investigation of air, soil and water and canalization, parallel with his many other duties. He accepted the bacteriological views of Pasteur and Koch and the significance of pathogenic bacteria. He was primarily interested in the capability of resistance of the human and animal organisms against the attacks of the pathogenic bacteria. His inaugural lecture delivered in the Academy of Sciences in 1885 was entitled "Baktériumok az élő állat vérében" (Bacteria in the blood of the living animal). He examined how the animal kills the bacteria getting into his blood and said that it was a characteristic feature of animal blood. Thus he became one of the founders of serum therapy. As a university professor he initiated the introduction of post-graduate training during the summer holidays. Though Balogh refused the plan, it was nevertheless realized thank to the definite support of Markusovszky. These holiday courses were the basis for the future well-organized post-graduate training of physicians in Hungary. In 1885 Fodor and Markusovszky convinced Trefort, minister of public education of the necessity of safeguarding of the health of school-children with increased care. They considered it as a vital part of the system of compulsory schooling of children. Fodor was convinced that it is not enough to employ general physicians in order to improve the state of public health of schools but this task should be fulfilled by specially trained medical officers of schools. He organized a course for this purpose and led them for 16 years. He trained medical officers of schools whom he found appropriate posts with the assistance of Markusovszky and Trefort. There were several societies in Hungary, and club-life flourished especially in the Age of Reforms. However, these associations had not such a prevailing importance in Hungary as those in Great-Britain. Fodor initiated the establishment of the National Public Health Society in 1886. Its president was Ágoston Trefort minister of public education (whose father was a physician which fact might have contributed to his sympathy for public health affairs), while Fodor became its general secretary. His scientific and educational activity is well characterized by the fact that between 1882 and 1892 he edited the supplement of the Orvosi Hetilap entitled Közegészségügyi és Törvényszéki Orvostan (Hygienic and Forensic Medicine) (1865) and the journal of the Public Health Society
