Terrible Death, of an Austrian Physician.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 934, 24 January 1890, Page 4

Terrible Death, of an Austrian Physician.

The Daily News' Vienna correspondent says :‘A most disfcrussing case has caused a wing of the General Hospital to he closed for a time, and the nurses to be, kept out of contact with anyone not belonging to the; hospital. • In the month of August a man was brought to the . hospital suffering from the terrible disease .called, glanders, which he had taken from a horse similarly, afflicted. He soon died, and a military surgeon, Dt Kowalski, who , had spent many years eximining bacillse of all kinds, undertook to subject the dead, body to a close examination. This was in itsell a most dangeroas piece of work. By the aid. of the microscope he soon succeeded- in finding the bacillus,, which he, reared, to .watch the . manner of its growth and its vitality. An ambitious young physician, Dr Hoffman, expressed his -, doubts as to whether -the bacillus reared artificially had still in; it the Ipowerof infection. Dr Kowalski gave, him one of his families, and ‘Dr Hoffman soon saw that the.poison still had the; niost deadly effect. All the animals he injected witliifc

died-of the horrible malady. Afc the beginning of October Dr Hoffman caught cold, arid felt pains in his side. - The pain increased, and ■Dr Hoffman -tried to-•cure• it by inreciirig' morphia. He did this with the syringe that !he had- u-'qU for injesling the ! glanders j poison into the doomed animals.-' Although’ ! it’'had feaen disinfected in"glowing : heat; -some particles of- the 1 poison - must ha-ve still been in it, for Dr Hoffirian vvbrse every day,’and last'Monday hi 3 frieff v ds took HiLp. to’ the hospital.' His. j horrified wflqu‘‘ they s&j!/ 'wMfc f body? ' BHng cc v&j'ed with nice*"*

1 when ve-i-tf e*'M’ff*’ • *•’ , which, proved to be .. me glanders poison. Dr Jtfoffj raana died unconscious.