The storm is up! The first month on the sea ship was the most uncomfortable, and Downing, who had never been on such a small wrecked ship, almost doubted that he would not be able to save his life, let alone study Fermat's theorem. It's fine during the day, but it's even more uncomfortable at night, I can't sleep at all, I want to take sleeping pills, but I can't find where to extract this substance.

Now he knew why Darwin had become sickly and weak after his exploration trip to the Beagle.

After surviving the first month, Downing seemed to have largely adapted to seafaring life and had more and more time to sort out Fermat's theorem, but bad luck befell everyone, and cholera broke out on the ship.

When the ship's doctor hurried to report to the captain, Rawlinson and Downing were present.

In this day and age, cholera was an incurable disease, with outbreaks of acute diarrhoea, and in severe cases, fatal dehydration within hours. The fatality rate can be close to 20%, and the water, food, and sanitation on board are so bad that the situation is even worse. Even more frightening is the ignorance of how infectious diseases are transmitted, which means that cholera will spread to the entire ship, which is sailing in the vast Indian Ocean, halfway between the Indian subcontinent and the transit point of the Cape of Good Hope.

The spread of cholera around the world originated from the original host of the Ganges Delta in India, and as a merchant ship of the East India Company, it can be described as "self-inflicted". This is also the reason why Tang Ning met so coincidentally.

Fortunately, although this disease is terrible, it is quite easy to slow down the symptoms and stop the spread after understanding its pathogenic and lethal principles. This principle is very simple, since it is fatal due to dehydration, of course, it is necessary to replenish body fluids. Ideally, rehydration salts should contain sodium chloride, ******, sodium citrate, and anhydrous glucose.

Downing asked the doctor to borrow a syringe and drew a little of his own blood to roughly determine the ratio of these ingredients. The universal molecular separator is capable of separating a single molecule in a complex mixture, and its ratio can be determined naturally. The preparation is also simple, there is sodium chloride and ****** in the seawater, and there are lemons on board, which can separate citric acid and glucose. Citric acid reacts with sodium bicarbonate to produce sodium citrate. Sodium carbonate is also called soda, and although there is a lack of food on board, soda is definitely available. As for why there are a lot of lemons on board? Quite simply, it is rich in vitamin C, which is a must-have for sailing to prevent scurvy.

The summary is as follows:

Seawater ==> sodium chloride, ******

Lemon = = > citric acid (transition), glucose

Soda + citric acid = = > sodium citrate

The four major ingredients are done, and cholera is not terrible.

Downing called the doctor, told him about the theory of replenishing body fluids, presented him with the prepared medicine, and told him how to make oral rehydration salts.

The doctor knew that he was an inventor, but he didn't expect that he still had insights in medicine, anyway, the scourge of cholera could not be treated, and it should be treated according to Downing's method.

Downing also told the doctor that the source of cholera transmission is water, and from now on, all water and food must be sterilized before use, and that he no longer takes water from public sources, but purifies water from seawater for drinking.

About 75% of patients infected with Vibrio cholerae do not have any symptoms, but within 7-14 days of infection, the bacteria appear in the patient's stool and are excreted into the surrounding environment. So after that, passengers continued to be infected with cholera. In order to clean up the toilet, Tangning separated chlorine gas to disinfect it.

After more than half a month of practical testing, the doctor finally took it, 80 of the 630 passengers were infected with cholera, under the treatment of oral rehydration salts, none of them were fatal due to dehydration, and later, due to the power of chlorine, the source of infection was contained, and finally there has been no news of cholera infection for a long time.

The doctor excitedly raised his glass to Downing at the dinner party in celebration: "Mr. Windsor, your theory has conquered cholera!" You know, this disease has been raging for decades, and the whole of India and London is shrouded in the shadow of cholera. ”

Tang Ning smiled and said, "Try it with a knife." ”

It turned out that the great inventor who invented the wireless telegraph was also a medical expert, and Rawlinson, a shareholder of the East India Company, was really full of admiration for Downing: "The cholera that caused the headache of the entire British Empire was solved in a small trial, it was too powerful!" The people of London are waiting for you to save you, and you must open a hospital. ”

Tang Ning: "Just one cholera treatment can't support a hospital, and if you get antibacterial drugs, it's pretty much the same." ”

Doctor: "That's great, isn't it?" I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with Mr. Windsor on this ship! Belch...... That one...... What are antimicrobials? ”

Downing: "You should know Levin the Dutchman?" Hook, right? His improved microscope could see a lot of tiny cells, and among them was a single-celled organism that I called bacteria, and one of the bacteria was the cause of cholera. We were lucky that no one died of cholera this time, but there will always be some cholera patients who are too serious to die, and these patients are treated with a drug that kills bacteria. This is an antibacterial drug.

What are antimicrobials? I can make an analogy that in the tiny biological world, it is a very colorful world, just like in the African savannah, where the jungle eats the strong, some bacteria have claws and teeth like lions, while others have horns and thick skin like bison. This is an analogy, the fact that most of the bacterial weapons are secreted chemicals, and many bacteria have weapons that form a shell that blocks these chemicals. Antimicrobials are minions-like chemicals that kill a lot of bacteria. With this weapon, I can open one of the best hospitals. ”

The doctor, Rawlinson, and the captain were all fascinated by the wonders that Downing had "imagined", and if it weren't for his endorsement of his achievements in treating cholera, everyone might have just praised it as "interesting", but now everyone yearns for his hospital.

The doctor said excitedly: "I am going to open a clinic in London this time when I return to London, and I really hope to see your miraculous antibacterial medicine as soon as possible." Is it omnipotent? ”

Tang Ning smiled dumbly: "There is no omnipotent thing in this world. There are many times more types of bacteria than the animal species in this world, and some antibacterial drugs can kill many kinds of bacteria, but by no means all, and some antibacterial drugs are also harmful to the human body, so they cannot be used indiscriminately because they can kill bacteria. ”

The doctor said, "What do you think about opium, which many doctors think is a panacea?" He glanced at Rawlinson beside him, clearly thinking of the East India Company, the world's largest opium dealer.

Even if Downing knew the dangers of drugs, he himself was exiled for "drug trafficking", and he didn't have a lot of hatred for opium dealers, otherwise he wouldn't have cooperated with the people of the East India Company, let alone succumb to naming his radio laboratory "East India Company Communications Laboratory". So, he said lightly: "Opium as a medicine should be controlled, it only relieves the pain, but does not eradicate the disease." After long-term use, withdrawal symptoms such as drug craving, restlessness, tearing, sweating, runny nose, irritability, trembling, chills, shivering, anorexia, constipation, diarrhea, body curls, and cramps will occur. I think anyone who is a doctor should know this. ”

It seems that Mr. Windsor has no good feelings for opium, Rawlinson is a little embarrassed, everyone wants to find some noble excuse for their career, and he is naturally no exception, feeling that Downing's prestige in medicine is like this, he doesn't even have the idea to refute it.