Pasteur’s Gambit: Louis Pasteur, the Australiasian Rabbit Plague and a Ten Million Dollar Prize

by Stephen Dando-Collins

The story of how Adrien Loir, nephew to Louis Pasteur, travelled to Australia to show how disease might be used to reduce the rabbit plague afflicting Australia in 1888.

Loir met with interference, chicanery, espionage and worse, but had a partial victory of sorts.

The aim was to win a 25,000 pound prize for a method of biological control, a prize that would have provided the money needed to establish the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Biology, Australia

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Stephen Dando-Collins is the multi-award-winning author of 48 books. British reviewer, noted playwright Robin Hawdon, says that Dando-Collins is "the modern age's foremost dramatizer of Greek and Roman history," while American reviewer bestselling military author Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman has described Dando-Collins as "a literary giant." Considered an authority on the legions of ancient Rome, Dando-Collins has written ancient and modern history, children's novels, scientific nonfiction, and biographies. The bulk of his works deal with military history, ranging from Greek, Persian and Roman times to American, British and Australian 19th century history and World I and Word War II.
Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Russian, Albanian and Korean.
His most acclaimed book on the ancient military, 'LEGIONS OF ROME,' was the culmination of decades of research into Rome's imperial legions.
Dando-Collins aims to travel roads that others have not, unearthing new facts and opening new perspectives on often forgotten or overlooked people and aspects of history.
He has two new books in 2024: 'CAESAR VERSUS POMPEY: Determining Rome's Greatest General, Statesman & Nation-Builder,' (Turner, US), and 'THE BUNA SHOTS: The Amazing Story Behind Two Photographs that Changed the Course of World War Two,' (Australian Scholarly Publishing).

Reviews

[Jack Kirby and the X-man · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a quest by Louis Pasteur (of pasteurization fame) to win a lucrative prize finding an effective biological control to Australia's rabbit plague in 1888.

The first half of the book takes an incredibly long time to explain a pretty simple concept - Pasteur critically needed the money from the prize to fund his Institut Pasteur which was in its formative stages. The commission set up to judge the prize displayed significant conflict of interest and bias. The second half of the book seemed less laboured and was a significantly easier read.

In the interests of maintaining the Pasteur camp as the "good guys" in the story Stephen Dando-Collins seems to excessively play down some seemingly ligitimate concerns of the commission. Since the Rabbit Commission Australia has had a checkered history with biological control, so stringent (unbiased) testing and the use of the precautionary principle seem justified to me.

It is interesting to contemplate the alternate history if Pasteur had won the Rabbit Prize and the chicken cholera microbe had been introduced in th 1890s. The first biological control for rabbits was introduced in 1950 (Myxomatosis), which was highly successful at the time with an estimated 90% of rabbits destroyed. Resistance has developed over time and rabbits continue to be a problem in Australia.

For those looking for a summarised version of the book, have a look at the Pasteur in Australia, an online exhibition by Bright Sparcs.

[Peter Macinnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly excellent piece of scientific history, delightfully-told. Dirty tricks, plots, scientific bigotry, hints of blackmail, anthrax, dalliance with actresses, corruption in high places and much more.

The story is about Adrien Loir, nephew to Louis Pasteur, coming to Australia to demonstrate that "chicken cholera" could be used to reduce (or perhaps eliminate) the rabbit plague that was ruining agriculture in Australia and New Zealand.

I specialise in the area and the era, so I was familiar with the story in general terms, and many of the names are also familiar to me, but I was unaware of just how much extra detail lay beneath the surface.

The only thing missing is the tale of the swan-neck flasks that Loir made to demonstrate a famous Pasteur experiment: I saw one of these at the Macleay Museum some years ago, still uncorrupted. It is a minor quibble, because the flasks were nothing to do with the main tale, but it shows another side to Loir.

Dando-Collins has written a book on Bligh -- so I am off to look for it!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Congratulations Dando-Collins! What a great read. This combines fields that I am fascinated by in ways I didn't know they were connected. Early microbiology (a field I have studied) is bought to life through the telling of Louis Pasteur's story. It then introduces his connection with Australia when he tries to use bacteriology (or should that be microbiology?) to eradicate a pest problem here. The Australian political history fascinated me. But what really was the most noticeable is how little anything has changed in the 100 years since the story! Qld vs NSW vs Vic to everyone's detriment; individual idiots manipulating the greater good for individual gain, power corrupting (note Pasteur's hijacking of Loir's thesis to Loir's ultimate disadvantage) xenophobia by everyone and how lovely most Australians really are. Oh - and of course, how sex is always thrown in the mix.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this fascinating history of rabbits, Louis Pasteur, his nephew,
Henry Parkes & Sarah Bernhardt. I've realised that corruption, subterfuge & self- interest has a long history in NSW!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly interesting story and a little insight into Pasteur's personality.