Chapter 2396 Cowpox
Qiao An suddenly felt hot in the ears, and avoided the instructor's sight in embarrassment.
Professor Moriarty smiled at him, and continued: "After the report was made public, people regarded me as a great savior against smallpox virus, which put me under a lot of pressure and had to continue research in this field, but unfortunately there was no breakthrough. .”
"When I was worrying, a special reader wrote to me, saying that after reading the report of the investigation team, he thought of the milkmaids on the cattle farm in his hometown who often contracted a mild disease similar to smallpox. The pustules are called 'cowpox' locally, and female workers who have had vaccinia generally do not get smallpox."
"This enthusiastic reader felt that the phenomenon he observed might inspire my work, so he specially sent me this letter, suggesting that I do an in-depth study on the correlation between the two viruses 'vaccinia' and 'smallpox' , maybe there is a lot to write about here.”
"A layman wrote a rural rumor, and you believe it?" Rebecca couldn't help laughing.
Professor Moriarty shrugged his shoulders and said solemnly: "I don't know if that person is a layman in the field of virus prevention, but this person can ignore the past and take time out of his busy schedule to write to me. For me, it can be said to be flattered, and I cannot ignore it.”
Joan heard the meaning behind the teacher's words, and asked curiously: "Who is that person, is he famous?"
Professor Moriarty took a deep drag on his pipe, and then slowly exhaled a string of smoke rings.
"That person's reputation is not small, his name is Roland Colas."
Joan and Rebecca looked at each other in astonishment.
The Regent of the Far East, Roland Colas, is undoubtedly the most widely known public figure of this era, and even the New World has many admirers of him.
Especially in the summer of 1625, under the leadership of His Royal Highness Roland, the Far Easterners miraculously defeated the imperial counter-insurgency army one after another on the battlefield with fewer victories and more, and his reputation was even more prosperous as he was about to counterattack the empire.
Such a world-renowned figure actually took the initiative to send a personal letter to Professor Moriarty on the other side of the ocean, not to mention the content of the letter, which itself has great symbolic significance.
Professor Moriarty had brief contact with His Royal Highness Roland before the founding of the Far East. At that time, the two sides were still in hostile camps. His Highness Roland’s letter not only showed that the previous suspicions were ignored, but also showed a high degree of concern for the development of the smallpox vaccine. Mr. Professor Of course, the suggestions he makes in the letter must be taken seriously.
"His Royal Highness Roland is another elector of the Goddess of Destiny. The Syndra he worships is the twin sister of our Lord Timothy. Although the teachings of the two goddesses are different, the relationship between the believers of both sides is still friendly. As brothers and sisters."
From a theological point of view, Rebecca made bold speculations about His Royal Highness Roland's letter.
"Professor, I suspect that His Royal Highness Roland has obtained some kind of revelation from Goddess Syndra, and writing this letter to you is also following the guidance of God's will."
Professor Moriarty gestured with a pipe in his mouth, motioning for the priestess to continue explaining her views.
"Cows and smallpox patients, cowpox and smallpox, these images seem to have no logical connection at first glance, but they are obvious as metaphors of divine revelation. The job of the professor is to establish these abstract connections and find out the cure for smallpox. key."
Joan was confused.
Rebecca's words are clearly "reverse cause and effect". Regardless of whether the suggestion of the Far East Regency is logical or not, first set the other party's suggestion as an absolutely correct premise, and then look for phenomena and evidence that meet this premise .
It’s like shooting an arrow at a wall, drawing a target around the arrow, and claiming you hit the bull’s-eye—does that make sense?
Professor Moriarty didn't immediately refute Rebecca's way of thinking, and took a few puffs of cigarettes before thinking about opening his mouth.
"In other words, the secret of treating smallpox must be hidden in the cowpox. If I can't find it in the end, it can only mean that I am too stupid to understand the hint of His Royal Highness Roland, or the revelation of Goddess of Destiny?"
Rebecca nodded solemnly.
"In this way, it becomes a position first, but the cause...isn't that good?" Qiao An couldn't help complaining.
As a result, Miss Priest looked at her without any suspense.
"I am the priest of the 'Queen of Karma', and no one understands the law of Karma better than me!"
Joan shrugged her shoulders and spread her hands, tactfully giving up arguing with "Miss Magic Stick".
In any case, in this world of divine power and miracles, the views of the clergy should be respected.
Scientific research experiment is a process of constant trial and error. In addition to step-by-step logical reasoning, occasional flashes of inspiration are needed. If you are too rigid in rational logic, your thinking will become mechanical and rigid. Isn’t this a kind of prejudice?
Since Joan recognizes spontaneous "inspiration", it cannot be denied that others may also obtain "divine inspiration".
This openness proved necessary.
After visiting the cattle farm, Joan first sent Rebecca back to the hermit manor, and sent it back without even thinking about dinner, to assist the tutor in the virus antibody experiment.
For the next two weeks, Joan never left the ranch, working from morning to night every day.
Rebecca is very interested in the work of Professor Joan and Moriarty, and often comes to the ranch to help. Her knowledge of magic and medicine is very beneficial to this research, and she can also make experiments on slaves who are dying of smallpox. By recovering his body, he virtually helped Qiao An relieve the guilt of participating in human experiments.
Professor Moriarty didn't care about the life and death of the experimental subjects, but Rebecca's ability to save the slave who was about to die of illness was equivalent to saving him the cost of the experiment, and of course he wished for it.
Rebecca always makes surprise inspections, but Joann still can't get away to accompany her mentor to the "Happy Palace" nightclub to enjoy the wonderful performance of "Beast Girl Striptease Troupe". Walking on the meadow is like a cowherd.
The hard work of the teacher and the student was not in vain. A series of experimental results proved that the virus that infects cows with vaccinia is very similar to the virus that infects humans with smallpox. It can play a miraculous effect in preventing smallpox, and it is safer and more reliable than inoculating "human pox"!
In the blink of an eye, at the beginning of July, the experiment of the new smallpox vaccine came to an end. Professor Moriarty arranged for Joan to focus on sorting out the experimental data and writing the first draft of the paper. nightclub.
"This is also necessary for work, my dear student! Everyone is dedicated to the cause of scientific research, regardless of the type of work, high or low, and they are just working hard on different battlefields. I wish you good luck!"
one more chapter