Lymphatic system
Plate 5: Sections of a guinea pig lung, suffering from artificial tuberculosisThe Austrian Edward Emanuel Klein (1844-1925) was a leading bacteriologist who spent most of his career in Britain, and was responsible for disseminating Robert Koch’s ideas in this country.
Although he damaged his reputation by a clumsy defence of vivisection, by disputing Koch’s claim to have discovered the cholera bacillus and by falsely identifying the germs of sheep pox and typhoid fever, the relevance of his bacteriological work to the treatment of tuberculosis lay in demonstrating that the disease was probably infectious in nature. This persuaded the medical profession that a ‘cure’ was conceivable.
True to Klein’s devotion to vivisection, the image shown here reveals a vertical section of the lung of a guinea pig suffering from artificial tuberculosis. From left to right, the figures show blood-vessels in transverse section, lymphatics and alveoli (air sacs).
The book was inscribed by the author to Sir John Simon.
In this exhibition
- Leprosy
- Scrofula and tuberculosis
- Scrofula
- Charles Creighton on tuberculosis
- Lymphatic system
- Smallpox
- Bubonic plague
- Cholera
- Yellow fever
- Sleeping sickness
- Select bibliography