090
In looking through the list of members, one finds, however, other
Frenchmen registered. I had no means of knowing how mag/ of these attended,
but undoubtedly more than the three I have cited. The important thing is,
if no Frenchman but Richet had come, it was sufficient to break the evil
spell, so to speak, and the general concensus of opinion was that the
French had made a great mistake in their action. It is quite comparable
to the mistake made in the foolish patriotic resolution of a body of
physicians in the Rhineland, of whom Professor Abderhalden spoke, who
had voted not to treat medically either French or Belgians. The important
point is that no one noted the absence of the French and it ceased very
shortly to become a subject of conversation.
The meetings were all characterized by a marvellous harmony, con¬
sidering the rather smoldering discontent and uncertainty that had been
going on all through the year. A very tactful selection of presiding
officers was made for various sections, so^here was a sprinkling of all
S
nationalities v/ith, if anything, a little larger proportion of Germans
than others, there being frequently two or three Germans in the course of
a morning session. The German representatives were an excellent group,
representing physiology in Germany. Their own papers were well presented.
There was no undue humility or undue pride. Everything was as natural
and as delightful as could be imagined.
The feature of the opening was the masterly address of Professor
ISacLeod of Toronto on insulin. Two other general addresses also attracted
a great deal of attention, one given on one afternoon by Professor Richet
and the other by Professor Pawlow of Russia. Richet’s address was, in a
sense, rather unfortunate, because it brought in rather strongly some of
his ideas with regard to spiritualism. One illustration that he used,
however, could not but appeal to every scientific person, no matter how
sceptical» Richet spoke about the fact there were a great many vibrations
or currents going on about us all the time, of -which we are entirely