M. PASTEUR'S PRETENSIONS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 S1R,—On Wednesday last the English public was informed through the Press of M. Pasteur's latest triumphs. The famous chemist—in iscalled by the Standard a physiologist—read before the Academies of Sciences and of Medicine, on the first and second of this month, a fresh series of statements concerning his wonderful prophylactic inoculations against hydrophobia. As on former occasions, a number of vague accounts were given without any detailed evidence other than of M. Pasteur himself and his immediate sympathisers ; but one case—out of which the leader-writer of the Standard made considerable capital in the issue for March 4th—seemed to me to be sufficiently precise to court investigation. It was that of "Dr. John Hughes, of Oswestry, who was bitten on November 13th in the lower lip." M. Pasteur adds, with characteristic recklessness and assurance,—" The patient himself had ascertained the rabid state of the dog."
Having made certain by careful inquiry that no such person as "Dr. John Hughes" actually resided at Oswestry, I wrote to Mr. Richard Hughes, veterinary surgeon of that town, without informing him what view I took of M. Pasteur's claims, but simply desiring to be enlightened upon the case in question, supposing it to be in his power to afford me any help. As it turned out, I had by good luck applied to the very man who had attended the alleged " mad " dog, and performed its "post- mortem." Next day I received from him the following full and courteous reply to my inquiry "Dr. John Hughes is a nephew of a lady residicg in this town, and was qualified as M.B. of Glasgow University some time last year. I do not know where he is at present. Regarding M. Pasteur's inocula- tions on him, I am confident they were entirely needless, as the dog that bit him never was affected with hydrophobia. The facts of the case are thus : —On November 13th I was requested to see his aunt's dog, which was reported to have lost its appetite, and to be very dull in appearance for three or four days. It had a dose of castor oil, and Mr. Hughes went to pat it in the afternoon, when he was bitten in the lower lip and got very mach alarmed, thinking the dog was rabid. When I saw the dog in the evening, it was perfectly natural in appearance, except that it was dull and sickly-looking, but it recog- nised all its friends, ctc., and, after an examination, I found it to be suffering from acute dyspepsia. I saw the dog on the following day ; it was no better, but was sociable in manner, lapped some milk, and had a desire to be very near the fire ; but it died during the following night. I made a post-mortem examination, and found the liver slightly enlarged, considerable distention of the stomach, with gas, and attenuation of the walls, and containing a ball, about the size of a small hen's egg, firmly bound together, and consisting of hair, shreds of cotton, and sacking and other foreign matter, which could not possibly pass out of the organ through its natural orifices. There was nothing un- natural about the month, pharynx, or any other organ, except that the intestines were very empty. Mr. Hughes manifested great anxiety, and was very inquisitive about hydrophobia, and I assured him that the only resemblance to rabies in that dog was that it bit him, and that I accounted for by its disinclination to be handled, and probably thinking he was going to give it another dose of castor oil. There was nothing erratic in its manner, entire absence of salivation, excepting once when out for a walk about four days previous for a few minutes only, when it was supposed to have picked up a blade of grass or something of the kind ; but Mr. Hughes made up his mind to visit M. Pasteur, and thereby added to the list of that gentleman's marvellous 'cures' of hydrophobia, and I was very muck astonished to see the case reported as one of his extraordinary successes. I may state that Dr. Fleming, F R.C.V.S., is the greatest authority we have on the subject, and I am of his opinion that many cases of acute dyspepsia in the dog are mistaken for rabies, as it is quite natural for dogs, as well as other animals with a depraved appetite (which is symptomatic of the disease), to devour foreign bodies, and many persons base their diagnosis on that alone, without having any regard for other important symptoms. I hope you will be able to give additional light on the subject, and any assistance I can render you I shall be moat happy to give. You are at liberty to make whatever use you like of my letter.—Believe me to remain, yours faithfully, H. HUGHES. Veterinary Establishment, Willow Street, Oswestry, March 6th."
No lengthy comment is needed on the above letter. I have now investigated seven of M. Pasteur's best known and most widely cited "cures;" and every one has turned out to be as void of solid foundation as the case of "Dr. John Hughes." When the " show " cases—concerning which grave articles are written in leading journals and solemn statements made before Academies —prove on examination to be spurious inventions, it is, I think, hardly worth while to inquire into the accuracy of the less im- portant "cures" concerning which the data and names necessary for investigation are not made public. I cannot refrain from expressing my amazement at the eagerness shown by the Press and by the public to accept M. Pasteur at his own valuation, and to echo far and wide the praise of a method which, were it not for the fact of its affording support and raison d'être to the vivisectionist school, would probably never have emerged from the obscurity of the Rue d'Ulm.—I am, Sir, &c., ANNA KINGSFORD (M.D. Paris).
34 Wynnstay Gardens, Kensington, March 9th.
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