ALS in French, signed “L. Pasteur,” one page, 4.5 x 3.5, January 28, 1885. Important letter about his research on a rabies vaccine, in part (translated): "I have received today, from the hands of Mr. Savadon, a dealer in Gray, a dog that has been attacked by a rabid dog. It will not leave my kennel where I will try to make him resistant to rabies despite the bite being probably at least four days old." In very good to fine condition, with a fragile central vertical fold, reinforced with tape on the reverse.
After five years of extensive study of the rabies virus and the successful treatment of several infected dogs, Louis Pasteur faced his first human patient in July of 1885. Certain that the severely bitten nine-year-old Joseph Meister would not survive without treatment, he began the course of the 13 injections; after administering all 13, one each day, in progressively stronger doses, Meister regained strength and never developed rabies. After a second successful treatment on a bitten shepherd which began in October, word spread and people began to seek him out for the vaccinations. A remarkable letter by the scientist penned at the height of his rabies research.
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