Dr. Ox's Experiment (french: Une fantaisie du docteur Ox, "A Fantasy of Doctor Ox") is a humorous science fiction short story by the French writer

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, published in 1872.A Fantasy of Dr Ox, Jules Verne, trans. Andrew Browne,

Hesperus Press Hesperus Press is an independent publishing house based in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 2001. The publisher's motto, "Et Remotissima Prope," is a Latin phrase which means "Bringing near what is far". Hesperus Press has published som ...

, 2003Jules Verne,
Le Docteur Ox
'. Re-edited by J. Hetzel, 1920.Pierre Schoentjes (2000): "Rhétorique de l'argumentation et rhétorique de la fiction dans ''Une fantaisie du docteur Ox''". in ''Récits de la pensée : études sur le roman et l'essai'', edited by Philippe Gilles. Sédès, Paris.Volker Dehs (2015): "L'Abécédaire du ''Docteur Ox''". ''Bulletin de la Société Jules Verne'' volume 188, pages 34-67.Pierre-André Touttain (1978): "Une cruelle fantaisie : Le Docteur Ox". ''Revue des Lettres Modernes. Jules Verne 2 : l'écriture vernienne''. Minard. Paris. It describes an experiment by one Dr. Ox, and is inspired by the real or alleged effects of oxygen on living things.

Plot

The setting of the story is the imaginary village of Quiquendone in West Flanders (now part of Belgium) whose citizens are described as "well-to-do folks, wise, prudent, sociable, with even tempers, hospitable, perhaps a bit heavy in conversation as in mind"; and where even "the dogs don't bite, and the cats don't scratch". Van Tricasse, the town's mayor, claims that "the man who dies without ever having decided upon anything in his life has very nearly attained to perfection." A prosperous scientist Dr. Ox comes to the authorities and offers to build a novel gas lighting system, at no cost to the town. The offer is gladly accepted. Dr. Ox and his assistant Gédéon Ygène (whose surnames happen to form the word ''oxygène'', "oxygen") propose to use electrolysis to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, and pump the two gases through separate pipes to the city. The doctor's secret plan is however to conduct a large scale experiment on the effect of oxygen on plants, animals and humans, and so he pumps an excess of the invisible and odorless gas through all lamps. The enriched air has remarkable effects on the town. It accelerates the growth of plants, and causes excitement and aggressiveness in animals and humans. Eventually the excited citizens of Quiquendone decide to go to war against the neighboring village of Virgamen, to avenge an old offense: in 1195, a cow belonging to that town had dared to step into a Quiquendonian field and eat some mouthfuls of their grass. However, as the army was on the way to battle, an accident at Dr. Ox's plant causes oxygen and hydrogen to mix, producing a huge explosion that destroys the plant. The story ends with the town back to its traditional slow and quiet way of life. Dr. Ox and his assistant, who were not at the plant when the accident happened, disappeared without trace.

Publication history

The story ''Une fantaisie du docteur Ox'' ("A fantasy of Dr. Ox") was first read in 1872 at the Hotel of the City of Amiens.T. Jeunet (1873), in the ''Journal d’Amiens'' Quote: "Last year, Mr. Jules Verne, acceding to lively demands, agreed to give a reading in the grand room of the Hôtel de Ville d’Amiens. This reading was extracted from a charming literary fantasy that appeared shortly thereafter in the ''Musée de Familles''; and is going to be published, within a year or two, with beautiful illustrations, by the publisher Hertzel. Thanks to the kindness of Mr. Jules Verne and the kind authorization of the editor, the''Journal d’Amiens'' can now publish in installments this work, still unavailable in bookstores, of the popular author of the '' Extraordinary Voyages''." It was published in installments between March and May of the same year in the

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

'' Musée des Familles'', and from January 6 to February 6 in ''

Journal d'Amiens A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization * Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, ...

''.Jules Verne (2000): ''Contes et nouvelles de Jules Verne''. Éditions Ouest-France.Jules Verne (2011): ''Une fantaisie du docteur Ox''. Collection "2 euros", number 5298. The story was re-published in 1874 by Hetzel as the main piece of a Verne short-story anthology, '' Doctor Ox'', that included three older tales. The spicy, ironic, satyric, and erotic elements of the original text were significantly expunged for this version.Jules Verne (1874), letter to Hetzel. Quote: "My dear friend, on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest, I will send you myself the Doctor Ox, and we will see what has to be suppressed for the kids."Olivier Dumas (1984): '"Le docteur Ox, censuré par Hetzel". ''Bulletin de la Société Jules Verne'', volume 71, issue 3

Notes

The town of Quiquendone may have been intended as a caricature of Amiens, where Verne was living at the time.Jules Verne, letter to Charles Wallut. Quote: "On the wish of my wife, I am establishing myself at Amiens, a town that is wise, policed, with even temper..." The name of the town sounds in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

as ''qui qu'en donne?'', which could be translated as "who gives?". The effects of oxygen on living things, as described in the story, are grossly exaggerated or even imaginary.

Derived works

On the stage

Dr. Ox reappears as the main villain of the play ''

Journey Through the Impossible ''Journey Through the Impossible'' (french: Voyage à travers l'impossible) is an 1882 fantasy play written by Jules Verne, with the collaboration of Adolphe d'Ennery. A stage spectacular in the ''féerie'' tradition, the play follows the adve ...

'', written by Verne in 1882. The original story was adapted by Jacques Offenbach as '' Le docteur Ox'', an opéra-bouffe in three acts and six tableaux, premiered on 26 January 1877 with a libretto by Arnold Mortier, Philippe Gille and Verne himself. Another version by

Annibale Bizzelli Annibale Bizzelli (23 April 1900, in Arezzo – 12 July 1967, in Rome) was an Italian composer. Selected filmography * '' Men of the Mountain'' (1943) * ''The Lovers of Ravello ''The Lovers of Ravello'' (Italian: ''Gli amanti di Ravello'') is a ...

, ''Il Dottor Oss'', was published in 1936.Annibale Bizzelli, Antonio Lega, Tullio Serafin, and Jules Verne (1936): ''Il dottor Oss : fantasia lirica : due atti in tre quadri''. Published by G. Ricordi & C., Milan. In 1964 Pierre Max Dubois adapted the story as a ballet son a libretto by

José Bruyr José Bruyr (18 March 1889–1980) was a 20th-century French-speaking Belgian poet. Biography José Bruyr was among the founding fathers of the Académie Charles-Cros. He was also a member of the Claude Debussy committee in Saint-Germain-en-L ...

. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41438574s/PUBLIC It was also adapted by Gavin Bryars as '' Doctor Ox's Experiment'', an opera in two acts with a libretto by

Blake Morrison Philip Blake Morrison FRSL (born 8 October 1950) is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs ''And When Did You Last See Your Fat ...

, first performed on 15 June 1998.

Other

The H.G. Wells's novel '' The Food of the Gods'' (1904) has similarities to ''Dr. Ox's Experiment'', "both dealing with the alterations in humankind and its environment due to changes in the chemicals the species is supplied". The story was adapted to comics strip form by

Mathieu Sapin Mathieu is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * André Mathieu (1929–1968), Canadian pianist and composer * Anselme Mathieu (1828–1895), French Provençal poet * Claude-Louis Mathieu (1783–1875), ...

, and it inspired a 1950 comics album by André FranquinAndré Franquin (1950): Il y a un sorcier à Champignac, part of the Spirou et Fantasio series. It also was adapted in 1964 by Mino Milani with illustrations by Grazia Nidasio for the Italian children's magazine Corriere dei Piccoli and extended with several original stories featuring the same character, published therein from 1964 to 1969.Mino Milani and Grazia Nidasio (2013): ''Il dottor Oss. Tutte le storie 1964-1969''. Published by Comicout. An audio version was broadcast by the radio station France Culture in 2017.Hervé Prudon (2017), '' Une expérience du Docteur Ox]''. Radio broadcast by France Culture, 2017-05-25, wit
online transcript

References

External links

Dr. Ox's Experiment
(Translation from 1874)
Dr. Ox's experiment, and other stories
Internet Archive
E-book
at University of Adelaide * (English and German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Ox's Experiment 1872 short stories Short stories by Jules Verne Short stories set in Belgium Ox, Dr. Works set in Flanders Works adapted into operas