This produced an unexpected anecdote: Hideyo NOGUCHI changed his name from the original Seisaku to Hideyo because he worried that people might misunderstand the character 'Seisaku NONOGUCHI' in this novel was modeled after him.
そのため、作中の〈野々口清作〉なる人物のモデルと誤解されるのを苦にした野口英世が、清作という本名を英世に変えたという、思わぬエピソードも生んだ。