Chapter 712: The Rabbit and Camelia
Yet, the doctors themselves hadn't mentioned how the Syringe would reduce patient suffering.
Joseph interrupted everyone's exclamations and asked, "So, who can make this thing?"
Lamarck mused, "Watchmakers, perhaps. They can craft extremely delicate parts."
"Jewelers," Perna suggested. "The most complex part of this Syringe is the hollow needle. I've seen Her Majesty the Queen's hair ornament; the Gun Barrels on it are hollow."
Joseph immediately recalled his mother's warship-themed hair ornament, whose Gun Barrels were only slightly thicker than a toothpick.
He nodded. "Call both watchmakers and jewelers. Oh, and borrow two locksmiths from my father."
Thanks to Paris's advanced Rail Transit System, just an hour later, seven royal artisans arrived at the Paris Pharmaceutical Factory.
These top France artisans gathered around the Crown Prince's re-drawn standard blueprints, discussed for over ten minutes, finalized their task assignments, then laid out their tools and began prototyping.
The jeweler rolled a silver sheet into a hollow tube the thickness of a toothpick, heated it until it glowed red, then slowly stretched it by gripping both ends.
But just as it reached half the thickness of a toothpick, it suddenly snapped in the middle.
Undeterred, the jeweler quickly discarded the failed piece and began the next attempt.
The syringe barrel was initially entrusted to the locksmiths to be crafted from Brass, but they soon realized that melting and casting was too time-consuming. They ultimately decided to use easily fusible tin instead.
Joseph knew that tin usually contained small amounts of lead, but if it was only for a few injections, the harm should be negligible, so he didn't intervene.
After all, speed was paramount right now.
Two hours later, a rather crude, dark silver Syringe, slightly thicker than a locksmith's thumb, was placed before Joseph.
For ease of manufacturing, the needle was directly fused onto the tin barrel.
The plunger rod, including the piston, was a single oak stick — the simplest solution to meet the sealing requirements.
In short, everything seemed to be made with a makeshift approach.
Yet, the silver needle itself was anything but makeshift. After dozens of attempts by the jeweler, its diameter was finally stretched to a size comparable to modern intramuscular injection needles.
Joseph tested it with clean water, confirmed the Syringe was usable, and immediately handed it to Perna for steam sterilization.
Over ten minutes later, Dr. Lamarck, following the Crown Prince's suggestion, reduced the dosage of Penicillin to 0.8 grams. He excitedly, yet unfamiliar with the device, picked up the world's first Syringe, preparing to administer it to Camelia.
Joseph noticed Lamarck's assistant bring in the liquid to dilute the Penicillin and quickly asked with caution, "Dr. Lamarck, what is this?"
"Rest assured, it's distilled water."
For an 18th-century physician, this was an immense improvement. Typically, doctors would dilute Medicine directly with plain water, or even with water from the Seine River...
Lamarck, after all, had also heard the Crown Prince speak about medical sterilization knowledge.
However, Joseph still felt that something was amiss, but he couldn't recall what it was at the moment. He could only watch Lamarck dilute the medication and then, with great unfamiliarity, draw it into the syringe barrel.
Then, that needle — which Joseph found alarmingly thick — was very precisely inserted by Lamarck into the vein on the inside of Camelia's elbow.
As expected of the top surgeon in all of Europe, his hands were both precise and steady.
Watching the medication slowly inject into the maid's body, Joseph suddenly slapped his forehead, remembering what he had forgotten earlier. He urgently exclaimed,
"Stop! Stop! No skin test was done..."
Lamarck jumped in fright and hurriedly pulled the needle out.
Joseph checked the position of the plunger rod; perhaps less than a quarter had been injected. 'Still okay,' he thought.
Lamarck anxiously asked, "You just said, 'skin test'?"
"Yes, Penicillin can cause allergic reactions. A small-dose skin test should be performed first."
"But I've injected rabbits many times, and there's never been an allergic reaction."
"That's just their good luck..."
After observing for over ten minutes and confirming Camelia showed no signs of allergy, Joseph finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to instruct Lamarck to continue the injection, he saw Camelia's brow furrowed, repeatedly crying out in pain.
Perna quickly went to comfort her. "His Highness has given you a special Medicine, and you'll get better very soon. Do you feel a headache or chest pain?"
"No..." the maid weakly shook her head. "It's my arm. It hurts a lot."
Perna gently rubbed the area around the injection site, murmuring, "It was just a tiny prick, you'll be fine."
"No, my entire arm... it all hurts..."
Joseph frowned. He recalled that allergies caused rashes, swelling, and difficulty breathing. Camelia's symptoms didn't resemble an allergic reaction.
He suddenly slapped his forehead again and looked at Lamarck. "It seems... the diluent should be Physiological Saline."
"Physiological Saline?"
"That's 0.9% salt water."
"Why?"
"Something about osmotic pressure, I think..."
Joseph only remembered that in his previous life, IV drips were always diluted with saline or Glucose solutions. He had once asked a doctor why this was done, and the answer was to increase electrolyte concentration, otherwise it would be incredibly painful.
Lamarck blinked in confusion. "Your Highness, but when I experimented on the rabbits earlier, I used distilled water, and the effect was excellent."
If the maid had any strength left at that moment, she would surely have protested vehemently against being referred to as a 'human rabbit.'
Joseph sighed. "Did the rabbits struggle violently?"
"It seems so, yes."
"It was because of the pain," Joseph indicated towards the bedridden Camelia. "Camelia is experiencing the same thing."
Lamarck's eyes widened. He clearly didn't quite understand, but out of trust in the Crown Prince's medical expertise, he immediately nodded. "You mean, I should use 0.9% salt water?"
"Yes, and remember that the salt must be filtered through multiple layers."
"Understood, Your Highness. I'll go prepare it now."
Fortunately, the laboratory at the Paris Pharmaceutical Factory was fully equipped. Over ten minutes later, an assistant brought over a small half-cup of filtered salt water.
Lamarck then calculated the amount of salt needed based on the volume of distilled water in the syringe barrel. After weighing it, he drew it into the Syringe.
The silver needle pierced Camelia's arm again, injecting all of the Penicillin into her bloodstream.
Joseph then recalled that she hadn't eaten properly for several days and told Lamarck, "Dr. Lamarck, please prepare some more Glucose and inject it into her."
"Glucose?"
Joseph frowned. 'Could Glucose not have been discovered yet?' he wondered.
He tried to describe it. "It's that special sugar extracted from grapes, without any sweetness..."
Lamarck suddenly realized. "You mean the sugar discovered by Mr. Graf? I've read his paper."
"I'll have to look through my notes; it seems it requires multiple purifications from raisins."
Joseph sighed in relief. "Then I'll leave it to you."
At 4 PM, Camelia awoke from a deep sleep, her complexion noticeably improved.
Perna took her temperature, then excitedly waved the Thermometer. "Thank God, 38.3 degrees Celsius!"
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