Pierre-Victor Galtier

Pierre-Victor Galtier
Bust of Pierre Victor Galtier
Born	(1846-10-15)October 15, 1846 Langogne, Lozère
Died	April 24, 1908(1908-04-24) (aged 61) La Mulatière
Nationality	French
Occupation	Veterinarian

Pierre-Victor or Pierre Victor Galtier ((1846-10-15)15 October 1846 – (1908-04-24)24 April 1908) was a veterinarian and professor at the National Veterinary School of Lyon, specialising in pathology of infectious diseases, health surveillance and commercial and medical legislation. He developed a rabies vaccine which had some experimental success in laboratory animals.

Biography

Early life and studies

Galtier was born on 15 October 1846 in Langogne, Lozère to a farmer's family. In 1853, he was entrusted to the nuns who ran the local school. He escaped from this school twice, only to be placed with his grandmother who lived in Langogne. There, he attended secondary school, leaving after the tenth grade.

He read Greco-Roman studies at La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin in the "Petit Séminaire", the famous ecclesiastical secondary school of Bishop Felix Dupanloup, an outpost of the Seminar d'Orléans. He received his bachelor's degree with honours.

He studied for his Master's degree and his veterinary license at Marvejols college. Around this time Lozère created a scholarship to help poor students to study to become veterinarians, which Galtier received and used to study at the National Veterinary School of Lyon. He came top of the class for four consecutive years, and graduated in 1873 as a valedictorian, receiving the "Bourgelat Grand Prize".

Career

Galtier began his professional career as an associate of Monsieur Delorme, a veterinarian in Arles, whose daughter he married. He began teaching veterinary pathology and eventually became the Chair of Infectious Diseases. Aged 33, he began his work on rabies.

In 1876, he was appoined the Chair of Pathology and Internal Medicine in the veterinary science department at Lyon. In 1877, his department began to carry out studies on microbial pathology and microbiology. This led to the school supporting the idea of contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, the common cold, and rabies, as opposed to the National Veterinary School of Alfort which supported the idea of spontaneous generation.

In 1878 he was appointed professor of pathology of infectious diseases, animal health, trade and medical law. In the same year, Mr. Bouley, Inspector General of veterinary schools, created a new department that would separate the teaching of general pathology from that of communicable diseases. Pierre Victor Galtier was appointed to the department chair and held the position for 30 years.

In 1879, he made important discoveries about two deadly diseases: common cold and rabies. In 1883, he obtained a law degree.

Nobel Prize and death

For his work on rabies, Galtier was considered for the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. However, he died in La Mulatière on 24 April 1908, thereby preventing his nomination.

Titles and honors

• 1881: Member of the Anthropological Society of Lyon
• 1887: Member of the National Agricultural Society, natural history and useful Arts de Lyon
• 1888: Officer Academy
• 1891: Knight Legion of Honor
• 1895: Officer of the Order of Agricultural Merit
• Correspondent of the Academy of Medicine
• 1898: Correspondent of the National Society of Agriculture
• 1898: Associate of the National Central Society of Veterinary Medicine Associate
• 1901: Elected Associate of the National Academy of Medicine, by 56 votes out of 59
• 1903: Appointed Commander of Agricultural Merit
• 1903–08: Member of the Veterinary Academy of France
• 1903: Member of the Rhône Hygiene County Council
• 1906: Appointed Officer of Education
  • Member of the Rhone vaccines commission
  • Four gold medals with the effigy of Olivier de Serres (works on rabies, pneumo-enteritis in sheep and horse and tuberculosis) Agricultural Society of France
• 1887: Bréant Prize (for his work on rabies)
• 1887: Barbier Prize (for his work on rabies). Academy of Medicine, contests
• 1890: Behague Prize of the National Society of Agriculture of France for his work on the pneumo-enteritis in sheep (June 25 )
• 1891: Barbier Prize (for his work on the pneumo-enteritis cheeses)
• 1892: Stanski Prize (for the second edition of contagious diseases

Work

Pierre Galtier was distinguished for his work on rabies. He was the first to develop a vaccine for rabies. He also made important advances in the study of the common cold and on the infectiousness of viruses.

Galtier assumed that, because of the incubation period of rabies, the development of a vaccine could be used as curative for a disease like this.

1879

His first publication on rabies was a thesis entitled "Studies on rabies" published in two veterinary journals and whose findings are published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences.

On April 25, 1879, the Academy of Sciences published his notes on rabies.

The article made clear his conclusions about rabies:

"1. The dog rabies is transmitted to the rabbit, which thus becomes a convenient and safe reagent to determine the status of non-virulence or virulence of various liquids from rabid animals (...)

2. Rabies is transmitted to animals (rabbits) of his kind (...)

3. Symptoms that predominate in the rabid rabbits are paralysis and convulsions.

4. The rabbit can live from several hours to one, two and even four days after the disease has clearly declared.

5. (...) the incubation period is shorter in him than in other species. (Based on an experience table published in the note, Galtier accurately and correctly calculates an average incubation time for the rabbit 18 days).

6. Salicylic acid, administered by hypodermic injection, the daily dose of 0.0068 gr for fourteen consecutive days from the fiftieth hour after inoculation, did not prevent the development of rabies the rabbit.

7. The saliva of rabid dog, collected on the living animal and stored in the water is still virulent five, fourteen twenty-four hours. (...) "

Galtier also had a brilliant idea: he began experiments to find an agent capable of neutralizing rabies virus. He thought that the discovery of an effective preventive was almost equivalent to the discovery of a cure, especially if his action was really effective, a day or two after the bite after virus inoculation. It is this 'genius idea which is the basis of preventive treatment for rabies by vaccination'.

1880

In 1880, Galtier published a "Treaty of contagious diseases" which contains a chapter on rabies.

It is in this book that he wrote this sentence summarizing his first observations on immunity to rabies: "Rabies virus injected directly into the blood stream is ineffective, at least this is what I found in several experiences where I had injected into the jugular vein of the sheep a large amount of rabid drool ". His remarkable experiences will be published in several articles the following year.

Also in 1880, Louis Pasteur became interested in rabies, as evidenced by one of his communications. He took note of the work of Galtier, regarding him with a certain disdain, thinking that these experiences "not possible to bring, let alone identify the disease [...]".

This attitude of Louis Pasteur is common: it denigrates precursors to take over their work and then take credit for ... (see Toussaint Henry, Antoine Béchamp)

1881

In August 1881, Galtier sent a note to the Academy of Sciences. He noted his experiences of the intravenous inoculation of the rabies virus in the bloodstream.

He writes that:

The findings that emerge from these facts are the following:

1. Injections of rabies virus in the veins of the sheep do not show rage and seem to confer immunity.
2. Rabies can be transmitted by injection of the rabies matter.

So he found a way to provide immunity against rabies in sheep.

In the Bulletin of the Academy of Medicine, he wrote: "I injected seven times the rabies saliva into the jugular sheep and never seen rage, one of my test subjects was successively inoculated with drooling a mad dog, after four months that this inoculation was made, the animal is alive and well; he seems to have acquired immunity. I inoculated a fortnight by putting eight cubic centimeters of saliva rabies in the peritoneum; it always goes very well; I would do next him another inoculation."

According to the science historian, Jean Théodoridès, this is the first time in the history of medicine that can emit the idea of immunization against rabies with convincing experimental results to the key.

1882

Galtier remarked that "intravenous inoculation is ineffective. [But] immunity follows, in sheep, this inoculation "and notes the absence of virus in the nerve centers.

This last point drew the attention of Louis Pasteur who saw a lack of sensitivity due to the subcutaneous inoculation technique. He developed with his student Émile Roux, intracranial inoculation dog trepanation. Thus it happens to isolate the virus in the nerve centers and urge the notion of neuroprobasie (neurons are the cells of the body most sensitive to rabies virus). As a result, the virus preferentially develops there, causing a spread of the virus through nerve pathways of the peripheral inoculation point to the brain).

1883

In 1883, Émile Roux published his medical doctorate thesis on "New acquisitions on rabies." According to Jean Théodoridès, which strikes at first in this paper written by Roux with care and method is the frequent mention of the work of Galtier cities from coast to coast. While Louis Pasteur referred only very incidentally to Galtier.

1886

In 1886, Galtier published an important book on rabies, "The proposed rabies in animals and humans in view of its characters and its prophylaxis."

There exposes:

• The symptoms of diseases
• Curability
• Aetiology where it shows, once and for all, the lack of rabies "spontaneous" and concludes that "Contagion is the only cause that can reveal rabies in animals of any kind."
• Transferability of rabies in different animals
• Experimental modes of transmission of rabies by bites

It recalls its 1879–1881 research and reports that he has continued until 1886 (date of publication of this book).

The book also deals with health measures and forensics, dog control measures (wearing the collar, a muzzle, leash).

1887

In 1887, he received the Barber Award for his work on rabies.

In its report on the Barber Award to Pierre Galtier by the Academy of Medicine, Edmond Nocard wrote: "The discovery of Mr. Galtier, therefore, has a high importance not only from the scientific point of view but also in practical point of view; it is hoped that it will soon lead to the establishment of a simple, convenient and efficient, allowing to save as many animals bitten."

The same year, he received the Bréant Price of the Academy of Sciences (December 1887) for his book on rabies. Bouchard, on behalf of the Commission consisting of Marey, Charcot, Brown- Séquard and Verneuil emphasized the importance of the work of several years preceding those of Louis Pasteur.

1888

On January 30, 1888, Galtier published an article in the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences. He insists that "the rabies virus retains its activity in buried corpses, so that when doubts arise afterwards about the nature of the disease that has determined the death, exhumation, and inoculation of the bulb are naturally indicated ".

For Galtier (recall that Professor veterinary, medical law and contagious diseases), the consequence of the persistence of the rabies virus is "And in prophylaxis issues to establish when, in forensic issues and in proceedings brought by the owners responsibility, there will be doubts about the nature of the disease, it will be appropriate to request the exhumation of a body not only to the autopsy, which often has been already practiced, but mostly to proceed with the inoculation of the bulb ".

On April 16, 1888, he again sent a note. He recalled his experiences in 1880–1881 showing that injection of the rabies virus in the veins of sheep and goats did not give them the disease but confers immunity against rabies He also noted that research was done in 1884 by Edmond Nocard and.. Emile Roux confirmed the validity of deductions. These authors note the intravenous injection method can prevent rabies after inoculation in the eye and rabies after animal bite.

In his article, Galtier also related his experiments on sheep and sheep.

1891

The second edition of his On Contagious Diseases was published in 1891. Galtier was disappointed, to the point of physical pain, by the negative remarks from Louis Pasteur about his research. This, supposedly, are not found in dogs acquired immunity in sheep and goats following intravenous injection of rabies. While Edmond Nocard and Emile Roux confirmed in 1888 (see above) by their own experiences in 1884 Galtier that the experiments had made 1881.

1904

At that time Galtier lost four of his eight children and his wife, and was strongly discouraged.

However, published in 1904, an article he titled "Pages of history" and in which he wrote: "... I had studied the first, from 1879-80-81, the effects of intravenous injection of rabies virus. I was the first demonstrated in the most peremptory manner, its safety in herbivorous animals and immunizing action. I established the first before there was any question of vaccination by Pastor process or other, that immunity against the deadly rage could be granted to certain animals by a particular method of inoculation ... .DES 1881 j 'had shown that the virus injections into the veins of sheep and goats do not show rage and confer immunity ... ".

In this article, he claimed his priority in the demonstration of the possibility of getting rabies immunization, stressing that the results achieved in small ruminants (sheep, goat) were confirmed by Edmond Nocard and Emile Roux in 1888.

1907

In 1907, Galtier receives significant token of esteem from the Karolinska Institute of Stockholm who asked him to send all his work on rabies to offer his candidacy Nobel Prize of physiology and medicine for the year 1908.

Other work

Galtier also wrote several works on the intimate nature of the tissues on the infectiousness of the virus.

He wrote two books on "Health regulation and legislation of its relationship with the pet trade" and on "The Treaty of contagious diseases and animal health."

Galtier focused mainly on infectious diseases of domestic animals: rabies, the common cold, tuberculosis, coal (disease), and pneumococcal enteritis.

Publications

Publications about rabies

• Pierre Galtier, studies on rabies Rec. Med. Vet, 1879, 6, 2 E set number 17 p. 857–867.
• Pierre Galtier, Studies on rabies, Ann. Med. Vet., 1879, 28, p. 627–639.
• Pierre Galtier, studies on rabies – Rage of the rabbit. Galtier memory presented to the Academy of Sciences by M. Bouley, Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences in 1879, volume 89, pages 444–446, August 25, 1879.
• Pierre Galtier, First demonstration of rabies immunity and toxicity of nervous matter. Mr. Galtier submission to the Academy of Medicine by Mr. Bouley, Bulletin of the Academy of Medicine 1881, Volume 10, p 90-94, January 25, 1881
• Pierre Galtier, Transmission of rabies virus, Bull Acad. Med., 1881 {2} {e} series, Volume 10, p. 90–94
• Pierre Galtier, rabies injections into the circulation do not cause the outbreak of rabies and appear to confer immunity. Rabies can be transmitted by ingestion of the rabies matter. Note Mr. Galtier, presented at the Academy of Sciences by M.Bouley, Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences in 1881, Volume 93, p. 284–285, August 1, 1881
• Pierre Galtier, The proposed rabies in animals and humans in view of its characters and its prophylaxis, ed. Printing L.Bourgeon (Barbier Prize Academy of Medicine. Session of December 13, 1887). (Bréant Prize of the Academy of Sciences on Professor Bouchard's proposal claiming for the teacher Galtier, the first demonstration of rabies immunity. Session of December 26, 1887)
• Pierre Galtier, Persistence of rabid virulence in buried corpses. Note Mr. Galtier presented to the Academy of Sciences by Mr. Chauveau. Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences 1888, vol 106, p. 364–366, January 30, 1888
• Pierre Galtier, New experiences on anti-rabies inoculation to preserve herbivorous animals from rabies after mad dogs bite. A shelf life of the rabies virus. Note Mr. Galtier, presented at the Academy of Sciences by M. Chauveau. Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences in 1888, volume 106, pages 1189–1191, April 16, 1888.
• Pierre Galtier, New experiments designed to demonstrate the efficacy of intravenous injections of rabies virus to preserve rabies animals bitten by rabid dogs. Note Mr. Galtier presented to the Academy of Sciences by Mr. Chauveau, Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences in 1888, volume 107, pages 798–799, November 12, 1888
• Pierre Galtier, Treaty of infectious diseases, 1891, vol. 2, 141. (a chapter is dedicated to rabies).
• Pierre Galtier, A History page. Discovery of rabies immunity. Rabies vaccination by intravenous injection. Note communicated to the Barcelona Pasteur Review (-Spain Veterinary Journal in May 1908). Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Zoology, May 1904, 55, p. 274–277

Others

• Galtier, Pierre (1880). Traité des maladies contagieuses et de la police sanitaire des animaux domestiques (in French). Lyon: Beau. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Galtier, Pierre (9 May 1887). "Dangers de l'utilisation des produits tels que le petit lait et le fromage, obtenus avec le lait de vaches tuberculeuses". Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (in French). 104: 1333–1335. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Galtier, Pierre (27 June 1887). "De l'emploi des sangs frais dans la clarification des vins, au point de vue de la transmission possible de la tuberculose à l'homme". Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (in French). 104: 1879–1881. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Galtier, Pierre (25 July 1887). "Dangers des matières tuberculeuses qui ont subi le chauffage, la dessiccation, le contact de l'eau, la salaison, la congélation, la putréfaction". Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (in French). 105: 231–234. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Galtier, Pierre; Violet (1890). Les pneumo-entérites infectieuses des fourrages ou variétés des affections typhoïdes des animaux solipèdes (in French). Lyon. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Mémoire awarded with the Olivier de Serres Prize by the National Society of Agriculture of France and with the Barbier Prize by the Academy of Medicine on 15 December 1891.
• Galtier, Pierre (1891–1892). Traité des maladies contagieuses (in French) (2nd revised ed.). Hasselin et Houzeau. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help) Volume I: 935 pages, volume II: 975 pages. Awarded with the Stanski Prize by the Academy of Medicine on 13 December 1892.
• Galtier, Pierre (1897). Traité des maladies contagieuses (in French). Paris: Asselin-Houzeau. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Galtier, Pierre (August 1903). "Action de l'iode sur le virus du charbon bactéridien et sur le virus du charbon symptomatique". Journal de médecine vétérinaire et de zootechnie (in French): 462–467. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)

References

Works cited

• Théodoridès, Jean (1986). Histoire de la rage: cave canem (in French). Paris: Masson. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)