I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Finally Pasteur (3)

The experiment was completed in two days.

The two swan-neck flasks were covered with black cloth to prevent spoilers. I don’t know what’s inside.

“Hello.”

Today again, the students who came to attend the class stared at me. The lecture hall was unusually full today. I think I see some graduate students too.

Did the rumor about today’s experiment spread?

At least there are no other professors, that’s a relief. I walked to the center of the lecture hall. The hall fell silent for a moment.

“Actually, I haven’t opened it yet either.”

Is there any need to delay further, this isn’t a variety show. I turned my back and removed the cloth covering the two swan-neck flasks…

“Ah.”

The result was as expected.

Just as we had said. There was no reason for it to differ from Pasteur’s conclusion. We conducted the experiment almost exactly the same way.

The open swan-neck flask had a bit of mold and wriggling maggots. On the other hand, the swan-neck flask sealed with water showed no significant changes.

After a brief silence.

Sighs arose from all corners of the lecture hall.

“Well, have we reached a conclusion?”

The sound of murmuring. There were people who just blurted out questions (probably graduate students on reconnaissance), some raised their hands, and others mumbled among themselves.

Anyway. The conclusion is one.

I was right. Again.

There are too many questions to answer right away. I returned to the podium and made eye contact with Istina. Istina had a triumphant expression, as expected. The experiment was a success.

“Any questions?”

There were many.

The sound of murmuring.

“Professor, do you think this completely refutes the miasma theory?”

“Is it true that the substance causing decay is the same as the one causing disease?”

“Could it be that the miasma couldn’t pass through because of the water blocking the entrance of the swan-neck flask? Was that possibility considered?”

“What argument will you use for your paper?”

What a headache.

“You’re not undergraduates, are you?”

Isn’t it obvious? It’s normal for undergraduates to know nothing. The people bombarding me with questions here can’t be undergraduates. I suspect they are spies sent from other labs.

“I’m Anne, a master’s student under Professor Kropelter.”

The questioner, who introduced herself as Anne, overwhelmed the other side of the lecture hall with that one sentence.

I (Anne) came to fight that b*stard (me). And it seems the students have decided to respect the declaration of war.

“A spy, huh.”

“What is a spy?”

“Just finish your questions.”

Anne cleared her throat a bit.

“Uh, yes. Professor, do you believe that the miasma theory has been completely refuted by this experiment? Is it not caused by gas?”

Perfect. A word scientists shouldn’t use. It’s a term that implies the possibility of a trap. There is no perfection in science, and there is no theory that cannot be disproven.

“I don’t think it’s caused by gas. I’m not saying that the miasma theory is completely wrong. There are diseases caused by bad air. The question is, what’s in that bad air. I believe the problem lies in the particles in the air.”

Anne nodded.

“Wait a minute. The particles in the air that you’re talking about are too small and fine to be proven directly, right?”

“Well. If you’re talking about magnifying the air, I think it’s impossible for now.”

Unless an electron microscope comes out.

Anne looked at me as if she had expected it. Of course, I had anticipated this rebuttal as well. I had prepared a perfect countermeasure.

Just wait a little, Anne.

“Professor. Specifically, how small do you think these particles are?”

The size of E. coli is 1 micrometer.

A very small size.

“They are tens of times smaller than a hair.”

“So, even with the most advanced equipment, it’s practically impossible to observe them directly?”

I nodded.

“It’s realistically difficult without going through a cultivation process. If you cultivate them, you can handle the colonies of bacteria, so at least you can see or stain them.”

This graduate student seemed to be arguing with me, but it’s better than someone who is simply amazed or just says, ‘Oh, I see.’

It also gives us a chance to think about what it takes to persuade skeptics. Since the thought process of the opposition cannot be scientifically analyzed, we must observe it carefully now.

“Professor, your argument still does not escape its original shortcomings. The claim that particles too small to be observed with modern equipment cause diseases creates a proposition that is more complex and simultaneously irrefutable compared to the miasma theory.”

Occam’s razor.

When there are multiple hypotheses explaining a phenomenon, the scientific principle is that the simplest theory that can explain the phenomenon is preferred.

It means that assuming the air itself is problematic is simpler than assuming there are unobservable particles floating in the air.

At first glance, it seems logically correct. Only logically. After all, the phenomenon is that there are indeed particles flying around in the air.

“Miss Anne. Isn’t it also a proven fact that gases can pass through obstacles made of water during the process of dissolving into and emerging from water? The experimental group was exposed to ‘miasma’ but not to particles.”

Anne pondered this statement for a moment.

“That’s true.”

“Estina. Do you know how to experimentally verify the question Miss Anne just raised?”

“Uh, no?”

It’s okay. I know.

If you think I just copied Pasteur’s paper, you’re mistaken. I anticipated this rebuttal and came to today’s class prepared.

“Miss Anne. Please come to the front of the classroom. If there are particles in the air, there must be a process by which the particles spread through the air, right?”

“Well… yes?”

Once again, victory is mine. I pointed to the microscope placed in a corner of the classroom.

“Take a look, Miss Anne. Can you explain to everyone what you see through the microscope?”

Anne adjusted her eyes to the eyepiece of the microscope.

“Oh.”

Bacteria are actually hard to see.

To observe the structure of bacteria, you need a 1000x microscope. The microscopes we use are only a few hundred times magnified.

We can barely confirm the existence of bacteria, but identifying their characteristics is impossible.

However.

If it’s a larger organism like mycelium or mold, it’s a different story. With the equipment we have now, we can identify the fine structure of mold.

Do you know what mold is?

Spores, the organs of fungi that spread the particles causing decay. If Anne can understand this, all controversy ends.

The evidence of decay is mold. We have observed that mold spreads the particles causing decay, and experimentally verified that samples exposed to particles in the air cause decay.

All counterarguments seem to have been refuted.

“Oh, a fine plant-like structure…”

Ah. Anne covered her mouth as if she realized something. Now she must understand, right?

“Do you see it?”

“Oh, it really exists… This is a mold sample, right? This fine structure is the organ for spreading mold particles into the air-“

That’s right.

It’s a relief that she understands quickly.

“The fine structure of mold. The particles causing decay, in other words, spores. This fine structure for spreading these particles into the air, do you see it?”

Bacteria in the air are hard to see. But fungal spores are several times larger than bacteria. They can be observed even with a crude microscope.

“This is… wow.”

“Is inductive proof sufficient?”

“The professor is right.”

Anne nodded at these words.

“To summarize one last time. The evidence of decay is mold. As you just saw, mold has structures that spread particles in the air. We have also confirmed that blocking these particles in the air prevents the decay process from progressing.”

The lecture hall became deathly silent. Only the sound of pens and paper rustling echoed.

“That’s all. Any questions?”

There were none.

“Then, this concludes the class.”

Princess Mint flipped through the letters addressed to her. Even on regular days, she received dozens of letters of greetings, requests, or questions.

Lately, however, the number of letters asking about that person had increased. Didn’t Asterix say that there was a scholar who claimed that medicine was politics? She couldn’t remember the details of that conversation.

The empire’s rulers seemed to have a keen interest in the paradigm shift in medicine.

It seemed that the Baron of Lapis (the regent) had been proudly boasting about it. The fact that they had been freed from the terror of epidemic dysentery had become quite an interesting topic of conversation among the empire’s nobility.

What was a fear of death for ordinary people was merely a topic of idle conversation for the upper class. Still, the effort to understand and solve the problem was commendable.

Well… I should have kept him in the palace. At this rate, Asterix’s value would skyrocket.