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.) appointed to consider my resolutions. The opposition to them has occasioned great astonishment here, where they are regarded almost as axioms", 5 5 Corfield's photo and a short review of his career was published in the Vasárnapi Újság (Sunday News) on 23 Sept. 1894, initiated probably by Fodor. He sent his friend two copies of the journal —as we learn it from Corfield's letter and the translation of the text referring to him. When Corfield was elected Honorary Member of the Hungarian Society of Public Health —instead of sending the formal acknowledgement to the secretary general, he sent it to Fodor and asked him to bring it before his society, of which he was president at that time. It is important to know that it was through Fodor's intercession that Corfield's Harveian lectures (delivered in 1893 before the Harveian Society of London) on "Disease and Defective House Sanitation" (published in 1896) was translated into Hungarian. It was published in Hungarian in 1900 under the auspicies of the Hungarian Society of Public Health 5 6 Corfield thanks Fodor for it on 28th Febr. 1900 and tells him that he "feels very pleased" and esteems "it as a very great honour". Corfield wrote long letters to Fodor, much longer than he wrote to anyone else — as he remarked himself — and he spoke about anything that interested him or happened to him. He spoke about political questions, e.g. the sweeping away of the "Home Rule" Government and the rise of the new "Unionist" Government and its effect on the country (July 29th 1895). Fodor was among the first whom Corfield told about his appointment of Consulting Sanitary Adviser to Her Majesty's Office of Works, on the very day of the official announcement of his appointment (4th Nov. 1899). It was a newly established office created by the Government and he was its first holder. It is not without interest to quote the passage referring to his new job as he writes "quite freely" of his thoughts: "It is a consulting appointment, so it does not interfere with my professorship or with anything else, and does not "tie me by the leg" as most Government appointments do. In fact it is the very thing for me! It merely means that the Government retains my services for advice in any matters relating to the Royal Palaces and Public Buildings under the control of the office of works. You will at once see, what an important thing this is for your friend. It is what I have been hoping for four years past, though I had no idea how it would com?., or if it would ever come, as there was no such post until a few days ago (in fact I may say until today) and I had refused years ago to become merely a Government Sanitary Official of the ordinary sort, preferring to be "a free lance, a dezision, which I have never had cause to regret". 5 5 They proposed the frequent removal of all foul matters from the dwellings, smooth paving of streets, that house-drains should be watertight, etc. See: Huitiéme Congrés International đ^Hygiene et de démographie. Comptes-rendus et Mémoires. Vol. 4. ed. by. Dr. S. Gerlóczy. Budapest 1896. p. 568. 5 6 Corfield, W. H., Betegségek és egészségügyi tekintetben hiányos lakások, trans, by Ö. Frank. Budapest 1900.
