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“The preli of facts didn’t bother me as much as her conclusions,” he said after a moment “The basis for Dr Lee’s paper was built on empirical evidence that I found hard to s: primarily, her observations on the anecdotes told by the men involved Unfortunately, the ship’s captain died before the interviews took place His logbook was never found”

“Don’t firsthand observations have some validity?” Paul asked

“Oh, yes, but think of it: these men had been ill at the time, some even in fever comas, and their recollections were recorded decades after the event”

“What was the nature of those recollections?” Paul asked

“They all had the sa port, becaood health”

“Was spontaneous remission a possibility?” Gamay asked

“Dr Lee presented reports of a flulike plague that ra by its speed and ferocity, as well as influenza’s high mortality rate, I’d say spontaneous remission was not likely”

“You said the crewmen all told the sathen the account of what happened?”

“A whaling vessel was a small community unto itself I think they developed a shared story line” He paused “Only the first mate had a different version”

“Did he contradict the crew’s version?” Gamay asked

“No In fact, the firstanchor at an island, even going ashore with the captain He also re sensation in his chest He woke up feeling as if he had never been sick”

“That’s interesting about the sting,” Ga about a primitive version of inoculation?”

“He see in that direction He said all the surviving crew and officers had a reddish hts could have been hallucinations or the electrical phenomenon known as Saint Elmo’s fire and the marks insect bites In any case, inoculation can prevent disease but isn’t known to cure it”

“Did the Harvard team take blood samples from the men?” Gamay asked

“Yes The samples were subjected to en activity, but you have to understand that the optical instrumentation then was priy is coroundbreaking discoveries explaining why people, having survived a disease, rarely caught it again after that”