All this caused Metchnikoff the deepest anxiety, the more so that he was absolutely incapable of altering the situation. As soon as it became possible, he sold to the peasants that portion of the land which belonged to us personally; until then, the property had been common to the whole family, of which the younger members were not yet of age. This, however, was not a general solution, and these moral preoccupations, as well as the heavy responsibility incumbent upon him, kept him from his scientific work. He was therefore very pleased to hand over the management of the property to one of my brothers who had just completed his studies in a Higher Agricultural School, and, in spite of difficult conditions, Elie had the satisfaction of giving up everything in good order.
Thanks to my parents' inheritance, he was able to abandon his share of the Panassovka patrimony to the children of his brother and to live henceforth independently. He wished to pursue researches on the shores of the Mediterranean: therefore, in the autumn of the year 1882, we went to Messina with my two sisters and my three young brothers. The children were no trouble to Elie, who loved them; on the contrary, he enjoyed organising the journey and arranging all sorts of pleasures for them. The children, accustomed to his kindly indulgence, always came to "the Prophet" for everything they wanted.[14]
[14] "Elie" is the French form of Elijah, in Russian Ilia, and was ultimately adopted by Metchnikoff.
Messina--Inception of the phagocyte theory--Encouragement from Virchow and Kleinenberg--First paper on phagocytosis at the Odessa Congress in 1883--The question of Immunity--Article in Virchow's _Archiv_, 1884.
At Messina, we settled in a suburb, the Ringo, on the quay of the Straits, in a small flat with a garden and a splendid view over the sea. We did not have much room, and the laboratory had to be installed in the drawing-room, but, on the other hand, Elie only had to cross the quay in order to find the fisherman who provided him with the material needed for his researches and with whom we frequently went sailing.
Metchnikoff loved Messina, with its rich marine fauna and beautiful scenery. The splendid view of the sea and the calm outline of the Calabrian coast across the Straits delighted him. He enjoyed it all the more after the many excitements of life at the University, and eagerly gave himself up to his researches. Often, in later years, he delighted to recall memories of that period, the more so that this was connected with the principal phase of scientific activity which led to the formation of his phagocyte theory. After the earthquake in 1908, he wrote a few pages on Messina and ended his article by the following lines: