episode_0012

Episode 12. The Discovery of Germs (2)

****

Benjamin Brisbane.

He is currently lying in bed with a broken arm. Benjamin looked at the healer speaking in front of him.

“What… … . That’s it. You cut off your arm and put a nail in the bone, so it can’t not hurt, right?”

Honestly, I thought he was crazy. What kind of healer would talk like that? Of course, he corrected himself a few seconds later.

But I wasn’t angry or anything.

The nurses at the time of admission said that my arm could be amputated or I could lose the use of my arm.

After biting the gag once, I was able to move my fingers and the burning pain in my arm disappeared. The surgical procedure was truly horrible, but the results were somewhat satisfactory.

Well, this healer. That’s why he must have been so comfortable. He must have been treating her well and must have confidence that the results were good, so he must have said something like that.

Benjamin very slowly moved his injured wrist and fingers. It still hurt, but he could move them.

It didn’t move on the day it broke.

****

My arm seemed to have recovered somewhat well. I went out of the ward with Istina.

“Still, the patient is getting better.”

“Okay.”

“I think it’s a really groundbreaking method! It’s like disinfecting the patient and the area around the operating table with alcohol to prevent the wound from rotting.”

You could think of it that way.

I nodded.

“After this paper is published, all hospitals in the empire will operate in our way. Washing hands, using clean surgical instruments, these are considered basic.”

“I guess so.”

Istina answered brightly.

Even an elegant swan has to splash around hard under the water. No, the doctor’s gown these days is black, so it’s probably closer to a crow.

Anyway, to reach the goal, you have to work hard. To prove the existence of bacteria, you have to make a microscope, and you have to conduct Pasteur’s goose-neck flask experiment…

Anyway, there are many checkpoints to pass through.

****

Microscope. The microscope is the problem.

I stayed up all night and tried to draw up a microscope blueprint somehow. I don’t know if the focus calculations are correct. I think there was something about diopters, but I don’t know that much.

anyway.

I did draw up a blueprint.

“Istina. If you were a watchmaker, could you make a microscope by looking at this?”

“I’m not a watchmaker, so I don’t know. I think it could be made. At least it would be a much simpler machine than a watch.”

I guess so?

Technically, it would be possible. I just don’t see the need to stack magnifying lenses to magnify something by 100x. There’s nothing in this world that deserves magnification by 100x.

At least for now.

If it were known that microorganisms existed and that they caused disease or decay, everyone would try to build microscopes.

Even in the era of molecular biology, Gram’s classification system, which classified bacteria by color and shape, was still used. It was the most useful classification method and produced results quickly.

“Do you know, maybe he’s the kind of person who can produce results just by explaining it verbally. Let’s go with that for now.”

I nodded.

Dyes are readily available, and it won’t be long before we can identify the types of bacteria using the Gram stain.

“Okay.”

“Then……I’ll take this.”

Istina carefully took the blueprint. I looked at the back of Istina’s head.

I wish we had ten more graduate students. Then we could see patients perfectly and conduct research without any problems.

****

There’s so much to do.

Every time this happens, I have this urgent thought: If only there were ten graduate students, graduate students. We could do our research several times faster.

I thought about how to save graduate students.

Of course, I could wait until class starts, but who knows how long it will take for students to be impressed by my class and decide to become graduate students?

There is a faster way than that.

“Princess. Please grant me a favor.”

“Mr. Asterix… What the heck. Let’s hear what nonsense you’re talking about this time.”

“Please help me find a graduate student.”

“I don’t like it. Find it yourself.”

“No, Your Highness. With just one word from Your Highness, you could save a truckload of graduate students. My life would change, and the future of Imperial Science would change. How great would that be?”

“What’s a truck, you idiot.”

“That’s-”

“The teacher seems to think my authority is like a rubber band. Sometimes, he doesn’t even call my title, saying, “What’s wrong with being a princess?” When he needs me, he says, “All I have to do is say a word and the graduate students will line up.” ”

It was so true that I couldn’t refute it.

“The future of the empire depends on it.”

“Do as you wish. Why do you always do this to me?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

Mint made a face as if she found it funny.

“Let’s say you cooperate. What should I do for you?”

“Please post an announcement that I am recruiting graduate students. Then, wouldn’t graduate students line up thanks to the princess’s halo?”

Princess Mint pressed her temples.

“You crazy bastard. My head hurts just hearing it.”

“Is that it?”

“How ridiculous. Is that what you’re doing by borrowing the princess’s name? Fishing for graduate students?”

“How important is the recruitment of graduate students?”

The princess shook her head.

****

Smart. I knocked on Professor Klaus’s lab door and opened it carefully. Even though he was a fellow professor, I couldn’t treat him roughly, since he looked old enough to be my father.

“Professor Klaus.”

“Ah, Professor Asterix is here this time. What brings you here today?”

“I have a class coming up soon, and I’m going to talk about a new theory in front of the students. I came here to ask if you could join the class.”

Professor Klaus scratched his beard.

“Do you present your new theory to undergraduates? Is it really necessary?”

“Students are just hangers-on, research is important. I think it’s just a place for us to talk and discuss theories. I think undergraduate students would like to hear it too, right?”

“What… … . I’ll listen later when I have time. After class, let’s talk about the new item you made and the research you’re going to do.”

I bowed my head in front of Professor Klaus. This professor is a great person. He listened to my request, which could have seemed rude. He even considered the students’ position.

****

It’s been a long time since I touched chalk.

No, I don’t really remember touching chalk. I don’t know if it would be good for writing on the board.

“Istina. Take attendance after class.”

Istina nodded.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about how I should conduct my classes. After much thought, I’ve decided that it would be best to conduct my classes based on the research I’m currently conducting.”

My chalk was moving busily.

-Causes of disease.

This is what we will be learning today: the causes of disease.

I slowly looked around the classroom, but it didn’t seem like Professor Klaus had arrived yet. I wonder if he’d come, but I wish he had.

“Diseases can be broadly divided into four types based on their causes: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases, and physiological diseases.”

I looked around the classroom.

“What do you think is the cause of the epidemic?”

The classroom was buzzing.

Even though Istina was sitting in front of me, she avoided my gaze. No, she came to class and didn’t even answer.

“Students in front of you. Answer.”

I pointed to someone, and the boy sitting in the front row, who was dozing off, raised his head.

“Oh, me?”

“Yes.”

“Uh… …. I think the plague comes from unclean environments and bad air.”

That’s half true.

“The social context in which the disease occurs is also important. When a patient comes in, it is right to first check the patient’s background, occupation, etc. ”

The student who answered nodded.

“To conclude, infectious diseases are mostly caused by microscopic particles. Pathogenic particles can be in the air, in water, or in food.”

It might be a hypothesis that is different from common sense.

This time too, there were quite a few students who were noisy.

“Professor, can you observe those tiny particles?”

“It’s difficult to see with the naked eye.”

“It seems unscientific to blame the cause of a disease on something whose existence cannot be proven. On the other hand, isn’t unclean air something that can be confirmed through the senses, such as smell?”

“……”

This new- friend. He’s so smart, isn’t he?

Of course it was wrong.

“What is the student’s name?”

“This is Oliver.”

I nodded.

“Mr. Oliver. That’s a very smart point. It would take a lot of procedures and evidence to prove that the disease is caused by particulate matter.”

There are several ways.

There are quite a few methods that can be demonstrated right away.

“If you hypothesize that what I say is true, how can you prove or disprove the hypothesis? Miss Istina.”

“ in?”

Istina dropped her pen.