In his growth the man kept pace with the scientist—heart and head held even sway in his life. To many whose estimate of French character is gained from “yellow” literature this story will reveal the true side of a great people, in whom filial piety, brotherly solicitude, generosity, and self-sacrifice are combined with a rare devotion to country. Was there ever a more charming picture than that of the family at Dôle! Napoleon’s old sergeant, Joseph Pasteur, is almost as interesting a character as his illustrious son; and we follow the joys and sorrows of the home with unflagging attention. Rarely has a great man been able to pay such a tribute to his father as that paid by Pasteur:—“For thirty years I have been his constant care, I owe everything to him.”
This is a biography for young men of science, and for others who wish to learn what science has done, and may do, for humanity. From it may be gleaned three lessons.
The value of method, of technique, in the hands of a great master has never been better illustrated. Just as Harvey, searching out Nature by way of experiment, opened the way for a study of the functions of the body in health, so did Pasteur, bringing to the problems of biology the same great organon, shed a light upon processes the nature of which had defied the analysis of the keenest minds. From Dumas’s letter to Pasteur, quoted in Chapter VI., a paragraph may be given in illustration:—“The art of observation and that of experiment are very distinct. In the first case, the fact may either proceed from logical reasons or be mere good fortune; it is sufficient to have some penetration and the sense of truth in order to profit by it. But the art of experimentation leads from the first to the last link of the chain, without hesitation and without a blank, making successive use of Reason, which suggests an alternative, and of Experience, which decides on it, until, starting from a faint glimmer, the full blaze of light is reached.” Pasteur had the good fortune to begin with chemistry, and with the science of crystallography, which demanded extraordinary accuracy, and developed that patient persistence so characteristic of all his researches.
In the life of a young man the most essential thing for happiness is the gift of friendship. And here is the second great lesson. As a Frenchman, Pasteur had the devotion that marks the students of that nation to their masters, living and dead. Not the least interesting parts of this work are the glimpses we get of the great teachers with whom he came in contact. What a model of a scientific man is shown in the character of Biot, so keenly alive to the interests of his young friend, whose brilliant career he followed with the devotion of a second father. One of the most touching incidents recorded in the book relates to Pasteur’s election to the Academy of Sciences:—“The next morning when the gates of the Montparnasse cemetery were opened, a woman walked towards Biot’s grave with her hands full of flowers. It was Mme. Pasteur who was bringing them to him ... who had loved Pasteur with so deep an affection.” Pasteur looked upon the cult of great men as a great principle in national education. As he said to the students of the University of Edinburgh:—“Worship great men”;[1] and this reverence for the illustrious dead was a dominant element in his character, though the doctrines of Positivism seemed never to have had any attraction for him. A dark shadow in the scientific life is often thrown by a spirit of jealousy, and the habit of suspicious, carping criticism. The hall-mark of a small mind, this spirit should never be allowed to influence our judgment of a man’s work, and to young men a splendid example is here offered of a man devoted to his friends, just and generous to his rivals, and patient under many trying contradictions and vexatious oppositions.
And the last great lesson is humility before the unsolved problems of the Universe. Any convictions that might be a comfort in the sufferings of human life had his respectful sympathy. His own creed was beautifully expressed in his eulogy upon Littré:—“He who proclaims the existence of the Infinite, and none can avoid it—accumulates in that affirmation more of the supernatural than is to be found in all the miracles of all the religions; for the notion of the Infinite presents that double character that it forces itself upon us and yet is incomprehensible. When this notion seizes upon our understanding, we can but kneel.... I see everywhere the inevitable expression of the Infinite in the world; through it, the supernatural is at the bottom of every heart. The idea of God is a form of the idea of the Infinite. As long as the mystery of the Infinite weighs on human thought, temples will be erected for the worship of the Infinite, whether God is called Brahma, Allah, Jehovah, or Jesus; and on the pavement of those temples, men will be seen kneeling, prostrated, annihilated in the thought of the Infinite.” And modern Pantheism has never had a greater disciple, whose life and work set forth the devotion to an ideal—that service to humanity is service to God:—“Blessed is he who carries within himself a God, an ideal, and who obeys it: ideal of art, ideal of science, ideal of the gospel virtues, therein lie the springs of great thoughts and great actions; they all reflect light from the Infinite.”
The future belongs to Science. More and more she will control the destinies of the nations. Already she has them in her crucible and on her balances. In her new mission to humanity she preaches a new gospel. In the nineteenth century renaissance she has had great apostles, Darwin, for example, whose gifts of heart and head were in equal measure, but after re-reading for the third or fourth time the Life of Louis Pasteur, I am of the opinion, expressed recently by the anonymous writer of a beautiful tribute in the Spectator, “that he was the most perfect man who has ever entered the Kingdom of Science.”
CONTENTS
| Introduction by Sir William Osler, Bart., M.D., F.R.S., v. | |
| [CHAPTER I 1822—1843] | |
|---|---|
| Origin of the Pasteur Family, [1]—Jean Joseph Pasteur, a Conscript in1811; Sergeant-major in the 3rd Infantry Regiment, [3]; a Knightof the Legion of Honour, [4]; his Marriage, [5]; the Tannery at Dôle,6—Birth of Louis Pasteur, his Childhood and Youth, [6]. Studies inArbois College, [7]. Departure for Paris, [11]. Arrival in Paris, [11];the Barbet Boarding School, Home Sickness, [11]. Return to Jura,Pasteur a Portrait Painter, [12]; enters Besançon Royal College, [13];a Bachelier ès Lettres, a Preparation Master, [14]; his Readings, [15].Friendship with Chappuis, [18]; a Bachelier ès Sciences, [20]; Pasteuradmitted to the Ecole Normale, [22]; Sorbonne Lectures, Impressionproduced by J. B. Dumas, [21]. | |
| [CHAPTER II 1844—1849] | |
| First Crystallographic Researches, [26]; Pasteur a Curator in Balard’sLaboratory, works with Auguste Laurent, [32]. Chemistry andPhysics Theses, [34]. Pasteur reads a Paper at the Académie desSciences, [36]. February days, 1848, [37]. Molecular Dissymmetry,38; J. J. Biot’s Emotion at Pasteur’s first Discovery, [41]. PasteurProfessor of Physics at Dijon, [43]. Professor of Chemistry at theStrasburg Faculty, his Friend Bertin, [45]; M. Laurent, Rector ofthe Strasburg Academy, [47]; Pasteur’s Marriage, [51]. | |
| [CHAPTER III 1850—1854] | |
| Disgrace of the Strasburg Rector, [54]. Letter from Biot to Pasteur’sFather, [57]. Letter from J. B. Dumas, [60]. Interview with Mitscherlich,61. Pasteur in quest of Racemic Acid, in Germany, Austriaand Bohemia, [62]. Pasteur a Knight of the Legion of Honour, [70].Biot’s Congratulations, [70]. Proposed Work, [72]. | |
| [CHAPTER IV 1855—1859] | |
| Pasteur Dean of the new Lille Faculty, [75]; his Teaching, [77]; FirstStudies on Fermentations, [79]. First Candidature for the Academyof Sciences, [81]. Lactic Fermentation, [83]. Pasteur Administratorof the Ecole Normale, [84]. Alcoholic Fermentation, [85]. Death ofPasteur’s eldest Daughter, [86]. | |
| [CHAPTER V 1860—1864] | |
| So-called spontaneous Generation, [88]. Polemics and Experiments, [92].Renewed Candidature for the Académie des Sciences, [100]. Lectureson Crystallography, [102]. Pasteur elected a Member of the Académiedes Sciences, [103]. Conversation with Napoleon III, [104]. Lectureat the Sorbonne on so-called spontaneous Generation, [106]. Pasteurand the Students of the Ecole Normale, [109]. Discussions raisedby the question of spontaneous Generation, [111]. Studies onWine, [113]. | |
| [CHAPTER VI 1865—1870] | |
| The Silkworm Disease; Pasteur sent to Alais, [115]. Death of JeanJoseph Pasteur, [118]. Return to Paris, [121]; Pasteur’s Article onJ. B. Dumas’ Edition of Lavoisier’s Works, [122]. Death of hisDaughter Camille, [123]. Candidature of Ch. Robin for the Académiedes Sciences, [124]. Letters exchanged between Ste. Beuve andPasteur, [124]. The Cholera, [126]. Pasteur at Compiègne Palace,127. Return to the Gard, [130]; Pasteur’s Collaborators, [130]. Deathof his Daughter Cécile, [131]. Letter to Duruy, [131]. Publication ofthe Studies on Wine, [133]. Pasteur’s Article on Claude Bernard’sWork, [134]. Pasteur’s Work in the South of France, [138]. Letterfrom Duruy, [139]. Pasteur a Laureate of the Exhibition, [140];solemn Distribution of Rewards, [141]. Ste. Beuve at the Senate,142. Disturbance at the Ecole Normale, [143]. Pasteur’s Letter toNapoleon III, [147]. Lecture on the Manufacture of Vinegar atOrleans, [148]. Council of Scientists at the Tuileries, [154]. Studieson Silkworm Diseases (continued), [155]. Heating of Wines, [157].Paralytic Stroke, [160]; Illness, [161]; private Reading, [163]. Enlargementof the Laboratory, [164]. Pasteur in the South, [166]. Successof his Method of opposing Silkworm Diseases, [168]. Pasteur atVilla Vicentina, Austria, [173]. Interview with Liebig, [176]. | |
| [CHAPTER VII 1870—1872] | |
| Pasteur in Strasburg, [177]; the War, [179]; Pasteur at Arbois, [180]. TheAcadémie des Sciences during the Siege of Paris, [186]. Pasteurreturns his Doctor’s Diploma to the Bonn Faculty of Medicine, [189].Retreat of Bourbaki’s Army Corps, [192]; Pasteur at Pontarlier,192. Pasteur at Lyons, [194]. “Why France found no superior Menin the Hours of Peril,” [194]. Proposed Studies, [198]. Professorshipoffered to Pasteur at Pisa, [200]; his Refusal, [200]. The Prussiansat Arbois, [201]. Pasteur and his Pupil Raulin, [203]. Pasteur atClermont Ferrand; stays with his Pupil M. Duclaux, [206]. Studieson Beer, [207]. Visit to London Breweries, [210]. Renewed Discussionsat the Académie des Sciences, [216]. | |
| [CHAPTER VIII 1873—1877] | |
| Pasteur elected to the Académie de Médecine, [225]. General Conditionof Medicine, [226]. Surgery before Pasteur, [234]. Influence of hisWork, [236]. Letter from Lister, [238]. Debates at the Académie deMédecine, [240]; Science and Religion, [244]. National Testimonial,245. Pasteur a Candidate for the Senate, [248]. Speech at the MilanCongress of Sericiculture, [251]. Letter from Tyndall, [252]. Discussionwith Dr. Bastian, [253]. | |
| [CHAPTER IX 1877—1879] | |
| Charbon, or Splenic Fever, [257]; Pasteur studies it, [259]. TraditionalMedicine and Pastorian Doctrines, [263]. Progress of Surgery, [266].The word Microbe invented, [266]; renewed Attacks against Pasteur,267. Charbon given to Hens—experiment before the Académie deMédecine, [268]. Pasteur’s Note on the Germ Theory, [271]. Campaignof Researches on Charbon, [275]. Critical Examination of aposthumous Note by Claude Bernard, [281]. Pasteur in the Hospitals,289; Puerperal Fever, [289]. | |
| [CHAPTER X 1880—1882] | |
| Chicken Cholera, [297]. Attenuation of the Virus, [299]. Suggested Researcheson the bubonic Plague, [301]. The Share of Earthwormsin the Development of Charbon, [304]; an Incident at the Académiede Médecine, [309]. The Vaccine of Charbon, [311]; public Experimentat Pouilly le Fort on the Vaccination of Splenic Fever, [316]. FirstExperiments on Hydrophobia, [318]. Death of Sainte-Claire Deville,326; Pasteur’s Speech, [327]. Pasteur at the London Medical Congress,329; Virchow and Anti-vivisection, [332]. Yellow Fever, [338];Pasteur at Pauillac, [338]. | |
| [CHAPTER XI 1882—1884] | |
| Pasteur elected a Member of the Académie Française, [341]; his Opinionson Positivism, [342]; J. B. Dumas and Nisard, his Sponsors, [344];Pasteur welcomed by Renan into the Académie Française, [346].Homage from Melun, from Aubenas, [350]; Pasteur at Nîmes andat Montpellier, [353]. Speech of J. B. Dumas, [354]; Pasteur’sAnswer, [355]. Pasteur at the Geneva Conference of Hygiene, [358].Studies on the Rouget of Pigs—Journey to Bollène, [360]. TyphoidFever and the Champions of old Medical Methods, [364]. Pasteurand the Turin Veterinary School, [368]. Marks of Gratitude fromAgriculturists, [372]; Pasteur at Aurillac, [373]. Another Testimonialof national Gratitude, [374]; a commemorative Plate on the Housewhere Pasteur was born, [376]; his Speech at the Ceremony, [377].Cholera, [378]; French Mission to Alexandria, [379]. Death ofThuillier, [380]. J. B. Dumas’ last Letter to Pasteur, [383]. ThirdCentenary of the University of Edinburgh—the French Delegation,384; Ovation to Pasteur, [386]; Pasteur’s Speech, [386]. | |
| [CHAPTER XII 1884—1885] | |
| The Hydrophobia Problem, [390]; preventive Inoculations on Dogs, [395].Experiments on Hydrophobia verified by a Commission, [396]. TheCopenhagen Medical Congress, Pasteur in Denmark, [399]. Installationat Villeneuve l’Etang of a Branch Establishment ofPasteur’s Laboratory, [406]. Former Remedies against Hydrophobia,407. Kennels at Villeneuve l’Etang, [410]. | |
| [CHAPTER XIII 1885—1888] | |
| First Antirabic Inoculation on Man, [414]; the little Alsatian Boy, JosephMeister, [415]. Pasteur at Arbois; his Speech for the Welcome ofJoseph Bertrand, succeeding J. B. Dumas at the Académie Française,418. Perraud the Sculptor, [421]. Inoculation of the ShepherdJupille, [422]; the Discovery of the Preventive Treatment of Rabiesannounced to the Académie des Sciences and the Académie deMédecine, [422]. Death of Louise Pelletier, [426]; Pasteur’s Solicitudefor inoculated Patients, [427]. Foundation of the PasteurInstitute, [428]; the Russians from Smolensk, [429]; English Commissionfor the Verification of the Inoculations against Hydrophobia,430. Fête at the Trocadéro, [431]. Temporary Buildings in the RueVauquelin for the Treatment of Hydrophobia, [432]. Ill-health ofPasteur, [433]; his Stay at Bordighera, [434]. Foundation of theAnnals of the Pasteur Institute, [434]. Discussions on Rabies at theAcadémie de Médecine, [434]. Earthquake at Bordighera, [436].Pasteur returns to France, [437]. Report of the English Commissionon the Treatment of Rabies, [437]. Pasteur elected PermanentSecretary of the Académie des Sciences, [439]; his Resignation, [439].Inauguration of the Pasteur Institute, [440]. | |
| [CHAPTER XIV 1889—1895] | |
| Influence of Pasteur’s Labours, [445]; his Jubilee, [447]; Speech, [450].Pasteur’s Name given to a District in Canada and to a Village inAlgeria, [451]. Diphtheria, M. Roux’ Studies in Serotherapy, [453];Pasteur at Lille; Lecture by M. Roux on Serotherapy, [456]; repeatedat the Buda-Pesth Congress, [456]. Subscription for the Organizationof the Antidiphtheritic Treatment, [456]. Pasteur’s Disciples,457. Pasteur’s Illness, [458]; Visit from Alexandre Dumas, [460];Visit from former Ecole Normale Students, [460]. Pasteur refuses aGerman Decoration, [461]. Conversations with Chappuis, [462]. Departurefor Villeneuve l’Etang, [462]; last Weeks, [463]. Project fora Pasteur Hospital, [464]. Death of Pasteur, [464]. | |
| Index:[A],[B],[C],[D],[E],[F],[G],[H],[I],[J],[K],[L],[M],[N],[O],[P],[Q],[R],[S],[T],[U],[V],[W],[Y],[Z] | [465] |