The Maker of Men and His Formula

Jules Hoche’s The Maker of Men and His Formula (1906) was amongst several notable novels inspired by H. G. Wells, in this case The Island of Doctor Moreau. In it, Hoche tried to go further than Wells, featuring a much bolder project in the manufacture of human beings, with more complex results. Whereas Moreau confined himself to surgical methods, Dr. Brillat-Dessaigne starts from primordial slime, subjecting it to a process of accelerated evolution to produce the “Pure Ones” who are not merely human, but anticipations of the ultimate humankind. The addition to the plot of the “Unclean Ones”, in contrast to the Pure Ones, opens numerous interesting biological and philosophical questions, and adds an element of horrific bizarrerie that culminates in a garish, violent climax. The Maker of Men… is one of the outstanding items of the “scientific marvel fiction” of its era.