Cancer Research (International Conference, Paris, 1910) : copy of report of E.F. Bashford ... delegate of His Majesty's Government to the Second International Conference on Cancer Research held at Paris from the 1st to the 5th October, 1910 / presented to Parliament by command of His Majesty.

  • Bashford, Ernest Francis, 1873-
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Cancer Research (International Conference, Paris, 1910) : copy of report of E.F. Bashford ... delegate of His Majesty's Government to the Second International Conference on Cancer Research held at Paris from the 1st to the 5th October, 1910 / presented to Parliament by command of His Majesty. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    When the subject of the causation of cancer came to be considered, the chief contribution dealt with the possibility of various intestinal and other parasitic worms, as well as of different skin parasites, playing the part of intermediate hosts, in transferring a hypothetical cancer virus from one individual to another. This contribution met with some criticism. In another contribution, the effort was made to emphasise the importance of statistical evidence in favour of the infective nature of cancer. A valuable summary was also presented of the mass of evidence supporting the view, that cancerous tissue is really a biological alteration of the tissue proper to the individual attacked by the disease, and that its peculiar properties may be explained without assuming the intervention of extraneous agencies, such as a hypothetical cancer virus. (6) Under comparative pathology there were grouped a number of papers dealing with the occurrence of cancer in lower animals and in plants. The most important paper dealt with certain tumours occurring in the sugar beets and allied plants. It was shown that these tumours can be grafted on other beets, both of the same and of different species. No causative parasites could be detected. From their general biological behaviour it appeared justifiable to assign to them in the vegetable kingdom a position analogous to that occupied by cancer in the animal kingdom. This contribution was of high value both as regards its originality and its far-reaching biological bearings upon the nature of cancer. The delegates were entertained officially and privately on many occasions and on the most lavish scale. Among the hospitalities extended may be mentioned those offered by the President of the Conference, Excellenz von Czerny, Baron Henri de Rothschild, Treasurer of the French Association for the Study of Cancer, the Municipality of Paris at the Hotel de Ville, and at Chantilly by Professor Bouchard, the President of the French Association for the Study of Cancer. The closing ceremony of the Conference took place at the official dinner held at the Palais d’Orsay. On this occasion the office bearers of the Conference and the representatives of foreign Governments again addressed the delegates. The President then expressed his hope that the organisation of the International Association would be modified before another meeting was held, so that objections which had hitherto stood in the way of the affiliation of other countries, and particularly of Great Britain, would be removed. This promise of reform was, without doubt, the outcome of the private discussion amongst the delegates, on the one hand, with reference to the need for making the Association international in more than the mere name, and, on the other hand, with reference to the inadvis- ability of the International Association endeavouring to impose