Chapter 30

"… John, don't you like it here?"

After wandering around the museum for half an hour, Emma, who was very sensitive, noticed that John seemed to be somewhat uninterested and distracted, so she asked with concern. Hearing her voice, Joshua in front also turned his head to look at John.

"Ah? Oh, it's okay."

John snapped out of his mental world and quickly waved his hand with a smile, "I'm just not very interested in some of the things here, so I sometimes think about my own things... Don't worry about me, just look at what you want."

"Oh."

Her expression was somewhat puzzled, but at this moment, they had just arrived at Emma's favorite part, so she quickly refocused her attention on the exhibits.

"Damn!"

After Joshua turned his head, John let out a sigh of relief and muttered a curse. For some reason, he had a habit of cursing when he was in a bad mood recently, as if it could help vent his frustration.

"Should I go listen?"

Standing straight in front of a marine specimen, John's eyes seemed to be observing the specimen, but if someone looked closely, they would notice that his focus was not on the specimen at all!

In fact, he was thinking about the lecture that was about to start soon.

He had once decided not to attend the lecture at the museum entrance and had warned himself not to think about anything related to medicine. However, as an ordinary person, John couldn't control his thoughts. The more he told himself not to think about it, the more he thought about it, like a kitten scratching inside his head. As the time approached the start of the lecture, he became increasingly restless.

"Should I go and listen?"

After much hesitation, the idea in John's mind grew uncontrollably, like grass sprouting after a spring rain!

"Go and listen!"

A moment later, John found that his mind was completely focused on the lecture. He made a firm decision. However, as soon as he made the decision, he started to look for reasons to justify it: "I have no other intentions, I just want to see what the medical level was like in 1880..."

"Hey, Joshua."

Since he had made up his mind, John no longer hesitated. He quickly approached Joshua and whispered, "You guys keep looking, I'm going to listen to the doctor's lecture."

"Huh? Weren't you not interested?"

Emma, who had heard this, immediately asked in surprise.

"Uh... I just suddenly want to listen."

John said somewhat awkwardly.

Blinking her big, watery eyes, Emma stared at John for a few moments, then suddenly smiled, "Alright, I just happen to want to learn about what you mentioned, those microorganisms. I'll go listen to the lecture with you!"

"... Alright."

Seeing that Joshua had no intention of stopping his sister, John had no choice but to nod and take this pretty little tail with him.

Time was running out, and in his anxiety, John repeatedly urged the Stone siblings to hurry up. They finally arrived at the lecture hall just before the lecture started. The small hall, which could accommodate about a hundred people, was already about seven or eight-tenths full, mostly middle-aged men in their thirties and forties, and a few teenagers, presumably brought by their fathers.

When they saw Emma in her blue dress enter, many people frowned and their eyes showed a hint of dissatisfaction.

"You two sit at the back, and be quiet."

Joshua quickly reacted, pulling his sister and whispering instructions.

"What's wrong?"

John was very puzzled and asked in a low voice.

"This..."

Looking at his sister, Joshua's face showed some difficulty, and he did not explain.

However, seeing the strange expressions on the faces around him and Joshua's troubled look, John quickly understood what was going on. He chuckled and shook his head. Even more than a hundred years later, most women still faced discrimination, though compared to the present, women in the future were indeed much better off.

They sat down quietly, and the lecture soon began.

"... Gentlemen, today we are honored to have a distinguished physician, Mr. Léon Bourgeois from Paris, France!"

The host introduced enthusiastically, "Mr. Bourgeois is an outstanding internist with a high reputation in Paris! This time, he has visited New York City not only to exchange ideas with local colleagues but also to give a lecture at the Natural History Museum, discussing the latest discoveries in European medicine! Now, let's welcome Mr. Léon Bourgeois!"

"Applause... "

The small hall immediately burst into enthusiastic applause.

Amidst the applause, a white man quickly walked up to the podium. He looked to be in his late forties, with a very ruddy complexion and a healthy glow, but his hair was already completely white, giving him a very steady and trustworthy appearance. After standing on the podium, Mr. Bourgeois said in a loud voice, "Thank you, thank you all."

As the speaker began, the hall quickly fell silent.

"The content of my lecture today, I believe you have already seen."

After the hall quieted down, Dr. Bourgeois smiled and continued, "First, I would like to introduce the meaning of microorganisms. In fact, this term was proposed by the surgeon Mr. Sedillot just a couple of years ago to describe bacteria and even smaller organisms..."

Clearly, Dr. Bourgeois was a very skilled speaker. He explained theories and concepts that only professionals would understand in a storytelling manner, quickly arousing the curiosity of most of the audience.

Even John was no exception!

Although his understanding of microorganisms might be more extensive and profound than any physician or scientist in this world, he still maintained a strong curiosity about the research and discovery process of microorganisms over a hundred years ago, as if he were unfolding a historical scroll, full of depth.

"Then, you might have a question: why, as a physician, do I pay attention to these insignificant things like bacteria?"

On the podium, Dr. Bourgeois's lecture continued, quickly posing a question that left many in the audience puzzled.

In the audience, many faces showed confusion.

In 1880 America, let alone ordinary people like them, even most physicians probably did not understand what bacteria were.

This was not surprising.

At that time in America, most medical schools did not even have a microscope, and except for the young physicians who had recently returned from studying in Europe, no one cared about the latest research findings in the world of medicine!

Dr. Bourgeois was clearly very satisfied with the audience's puzzled and curious reactions, and he explained with a smile, "Gentlemen, to understand the relationship between bacteria and physicians, allow me to introduce a great French scientist, the respected Mr. Louis Pasteur..."

Hearing this name, the audience showed little reaction, except for Mr. John Hunter, who was sitting in the back.

"Pasteur!"

Hearing this thunderous name, John could not help but become more alert.

In the future, even someone unrelated to medicine would rarely not have heard of Pasteur, who was almost synonymous with modern microbiology!

"... After rigorous research and thought, the respected Mr. Pasteur concluded that these tiny things invisible to the human eye, bacteria, are likely related to human diseases! In other words, they may be the cause of some of our diseases!"

Dr. Bourgeois's statement on the podium quickly caused a stir in the audience.

Although no one rudely refuted this claim, many faces showed disbelief. After all, even in the eyes of many professional physicians, Hippocrates' theory of humors still had a large following, let alone these completely lay people?

Only John did not doubt this. However, his thoughts began to wander, seriously considering a question: "Mr. Pasteur is probably still conducting his research in France? Since I have been reborn in this world, should I go to Europe to meet my idol...?"

This time, Dr. Bourgeois, seeing the audience's reaction, clearly showed disappointment in his eyes.

The theory of bacteria causing disease had been proposed for over a decade, but like many scientific conclusions, its promotion was fraught with difficulties, even in Europe, let alone in the more backward America?

However, as a staunch supporter of Pasteur, Dr. Bourgeois did not become disheartened. Instead, he took a deep breath and said loudly, "I understand that many of you may doubt this, but allow me to introduce another great British figure, Mr. Joseph Lister! This professor of surgery at King's College London, after reading Mr. Pasteur's articles, quickly put them into practice in his work, taking measures to prevent the harm caused by bacteria and achieving significant results..."

On the podium, Dr. Bourgeois was making every effort to introduce the efforts of European physicians, while in the last row, John's eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide without him even realizing it!

Upon hearing Dr. Bourgeois's words, John Hunter, who understood the significance of the name Lister, trembled, and the surgeon's spirit within him instantly revived!

Lister!

Another name that would be remembered in the annals of world medical history, a towering peak in the hearts of surgeons!

"... Has the curtain of the great era of surgery already been raised?"

Murmuring words that no one could hear, John's eyes suddenly shone with a light that no one could look at directly.

Then...

After about ten seconds, he suddenly bit his lip hard, quickly regaining his composure!

"Damn it, John Hunter, snap out of it!"

His hands clenched tightly, veins bulging, John's eyes flickered rapidly as he desperately warned himself in his mind: "You must understand that, for medicine, this is both the best of times and the worst of times! You are a reborn person, with countless opportunities, and you can easily become the best investor and live a wealthy and leisurely life! Why do you want to think about becoming a poorly paid physician, using the crude and backward instruments of this era to treat patients who carry deadly bacteria on their bodies?"

In the small lecture hall of the Natural History Museum, Dr. Bourgeois was passionately spreading his scientific beliefs, while the audience listened with varying degrees of seriousness or disdain to what seemed to them a distant scientific discovery.

No one noticed that in the last row of the hall, a young boy's eyes flickered, his expression struggling and conflicted, lost in a deep contemplation unprecedented since his rebirth...

...

The first volume has ended.

This book did not directly start with the protagonist's medical career, which may seem like a lot of unnecessary talk to many. However, the more I understand about the development of medicine in that era, the more I want to write it carefully and patiently, to vividly depict that grand era.

I hope everyone can read it with patience.

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