| Abstract The current study presents a descriptive chronological survey of the articles published by Césaire Auguste Phisalix and Albert Calmette on snake poison, with the aim of shedding a light on the areas of research and reasoning followed by these scientists, leading up to their simultaneous discovery of antivenom serotherapy in 1894. The path taken by Phisalix is revealed in 15 articles that demonstrate the motivation of a naturalist and the way he confronted the puzzle of immunity against snake venom. In the case of Calmette, two articles preceded the discovery; microbiology was his theoretical base and the Pasteurian spirit of solving health problems his driving force. These two researchers followed distinct paths, mobilized by different... |
