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.) In another letter he describes a reception given in University College, London which he seems to have enjoyed very much. The only Hungarian among the various nationalities, he makes witty remarks on the buffet "captured by the young priest of Aesculap by phalanx strategy " where the guests are served with food and drink free of charge, but he concludes his letter in a different mood: "What else shall I write on? Shall I tell you that Islington district with its 170,000 inhabitants has one medical officer of health and the annual mortality rate is 20 deaths out of 1000, while in Pest there are nearly 100 persons concerned (physicians, surgeons, midwives, coroners, etc;) and 40 out of 1000 people die. Shall I tell you that this one and only medical officer even finds time to do scientific work, while none of the many in Pest can ever afford to do so?!" 3 1 His only criticism is against the proliferation of quackery arising from the fact that medical practice is not regulated properly by the law. He gives a full description of a building called "British College of Health " which was dedicated to the memory of John Morrison who invented a pill that was regarded as a universal medicine against all diseases. He happened to be passing by the gate of the building when it was a forum of the Anti-Vaccination movement, its walls covered by posters protecting against vaccination. Fodor is taken aback by reading the petition asking the abolition of vaccination which was regarded the source of every disease and the poisoning of blood and remarks ironically: "It seems that the great efforts of the scholars to find out the origin of certain diseases have been all wasted, and must be stopped : one only has got to walk by the gate of the British College of Health every week and wait until the origin of every disease is discovered. . ," 3 8 Fodor returned home in 1872 and the following year he published his comprehensive work, the summary of his experiences, entitled: "A közegészségügy Angolországban, tekintettel az orvosügyre, orvosi rendészetre és törvényszéki orvosi ügyre, valamint a hazai viszonyokra" (Public Health in England with a view to medical affairs, medical jurisprudence, forensic medicine and the conditions in Hungary). In the introduction to his book he remarks that he deliberately chose to describe the public health of England out of all European countries he had studied, because "it was this country whose public health had attracted my attention most of all and because it is their system which differs most of all from any other system on the Continent, the least known and appreciated" . He goes on to say: "In England I have found sanitary institutions the realization of which would bring about drastic changes of progress in Hungary, but at the same time there are institutions, the imitation of which without any criticism would cause disillusionment" . 3 9 The purpose of his book is to render an objective and true picture of the English public health system in order to fill the gap in medical literature relating 3 7 J. Fodor, Üti Ívelek (Travel accounts). Orvosi Hetilap XV. (1871), No. 3. p. 4(i. 3 8 J. Fodor, Üti levelek (Travel accounts). Orvosi Hetilap XV. (1871) No. 12. p. 196. 3 9 J. Fodor, A közegészségügy Angolországban... (Public Health in England...) Budapest 1873, pp. IX—X.
