PASTEUR, Louis (1822-1895)
Autograph letter signed “L. Pasteur” to Pierre Viala
Paris, 30 May 1884, 1 p. in-8
« The greatest duration of immunity after vaccination was found in Melun »
Fact sheet
PASTEUR, Louis (1822-1895)
Autograph letter signed “L. Pasteur” to Pierre Viala
Paris, 30 May 1884, 1 p. in-8, with autograph envelope
Previous mounting mark on left hand margin
Pasteur corresponds on the subject of anthrax and evokes the famous experiment he conducted on fifty sheeps near Melun in 1881
“Monsieur le Président,
J’ai pris connaissance avec grand intérêt du résultat de vos expériences. La plus grande durée de l’immunité après vaccination a été constatée à Melun. Vous la trouverez dans le livre de M. Chamberland qui contient tous les rapports connus à la date de sa publication. Je l’écris ici de mémoire : elle a été de 16 mois. Mais vérifiez-la, je vous prie. Recevez la nouvelle expression de mes sentiments les plus distingués. L. Pasteur”
In May 1881, at Pouilly-Le-Fort, near Melun, Pasteur carried out a famous anthrax vaccination experiment on fifty sheeps. Some authors accuse Pasteur of having misled the scientific public as to the exact way in which the experiments took place. It is today known as the “Secret of Pouilly-Le-Fort”
Physicist and biologist Charles Chamberland (1851-1908) was one of Louis Pasteur’s oldest collaborators. Associated with many of his master’s works, he was also a genius inventor, designing an autoclave and a water filter that bear his name.