Henry Enfield Roscoe

“ Mon cher enfant, j'ai tant aimé les sciences dans ma vie que cela me fait battre le cœur." Thus at one step Pasteur gained a place of honour among the chemists of the day, and was immediately appointed professor of chemistry at the Faculté of Science at Strasburg, where he soon afterwards married Mile Laurent, who proved herself to be a true and noble helpmeet. ”

“ The first disease investigated by Pasteur was that of chicken cholera, an epidemic which destroyed 10% of the French fowls; after the application of the preventative method the death-rate was reduced to below 1%. Next came the successful attempt to deal with the fatal cattle scourge known as anthrax. This is also caused by the presence of a microbe, of which the virus can also be attenuated, and by inoculation of this weakened virus the animal rendered immune. Many millions of sheep and oxen all over the world have thus been treated, and the rate of mortality reduced from 10 to less than 1%. ”

“ Travailler, travailler toujours " was his motto, and his patience was rewarded by results which have not merely rendered his name immortal, but have benefited humanity in a way and to a degree for which no one could have ventured to hope. To begin with a comparatively small, though not unimportant, matter, Pasteur's discoveries on fermentation inaugurated a new era in the brewing and wine-making industries. ”

“ The history of this research, of the gradual elimination of the unimportant conditions, of the recognition of those which controlled the disease, is one of the most fascinating chapters of scientific discovery. Suffice it here to say that careful experiment and accurate observation succeeded in ascertaining the cause of the disease and in preventing its recurrence, thus bringing back to prosperity the silk trade of France, with all that this entails. " There is no greater charm," says Pasteur, " for the investigator than to make new discoveries ”

“ The law of which we are the instruments strives even through the carnage to cure the wounds due to the law of war. Treatment by our antiseptic methods may preserve the lives of thousands of soldiers. Which of these two laws will prevail, God only knows. ”

“ Next he sought to prepare the inactive form of the acid by artificial means; and after great and long-continued labour he succeeded, and was led to the commencement of his classical researches on fermentation, by the observation that when the inactive acid was placed in contact with a special form of mould (Penicillium glaucum) the right-handed acid alone was destroyed, the left-handed variety remained unchanged. So well was his position as a leading man of science now established that in 1854 he was appointed professor of chemistry and dean of the Faculte des Sciences at LiUe. ”

“ Two years later he passed the examination for the "baccalauréat ès sciences" enabling him to become candidate for the École normale. But here something (probably the examiner) was at fault, for a note was attached to Pasteur's diploma stating that he was only " mediocre " in chemistry. In those early days and early trials the dominant note of Pasteur's life was sounded. To his sisters he writes: " Ces trois choses, la volonté, le travail, le succès, se partagent toute l'existence humaine. La volonté ouvre la porte aux carrier es brill antes et heureuses ”

“ But place the crushed fruit or the wounded animal under conditions which preclude the presence or destroy the life of the germ, and again no change takes place; the grape juice remains sweet and the wound clean. ”