552 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Association of French Students, the " Scientia " ; and when his name 

 was mentioned in connection with those of Jamin, Pasteur, De Lesseps, 

 and Leon Say, as one of the persons whose co-operation was expected 

 to insure the success of the organization. In his address at this meet- 

 ing, he declared himself still a student. 



On the 4th of January last the students of Paris made a manifesta- 

 tion before M. Chevreul's house, with their flags flying, in honor 

 anticipating the day by a few months of the one hundredth anniver- 

 sary of his birth. Twenty delegates from the body were received in 

 person by M. Chevreul, when M. Delcambre, President of the Asso- 

 ciation of Students, spoke in eulogy of the great savant by whom 

 France is honored, and who, reaching his hundredth year, still re- 

 mained robust and valiant, and preserved all the force of his genius 

 and his old energy in work. In concluding his address, M. Delcambre 

 said : " Illustrious and beloved master, the students of all the schools 

 have joined in this manifestation because you are to us all I say it 

 with full assurance a dean, and, I hope I may be permitted to add, a 

 comrade. As a savant, you have contributed to the progress of hu- 

 manity ; as a Frenchman, you have added to the grandeur of France. 

 The students by my lips transmit to you their good wishes and felici- 

 tations." M. Chevreul appeared much touched by this demonstration, 

 and thanked the students with a voice marked by emotion. M. Del- 

 cambre then presented him a register containing the signatures of all 

 the participants. 



An interesting account of M. Chevreul's habits is given by a writer 

 who is quoted in the "Lancet" : "He is generally lightly clad, and 

 wears no hat unless under circumstances in which he is obliged to 

 appear in one ; indeed, he hardly needs a hat, as he has most luxuri- 

 ant hair. He is constantly at work, allowing only ten minutes for 

 each of his meals, of which he has but two a day. He breakfasts at 

 seven, the repast consisting of a plate of meat and another of vegeta- 

 bles, which he eats together, the whole being washed down with two 

 tumblers of water. He is said to have never drunk a glass of wine in 

 his life. He dines at seven in the evening, and takes nothing between 

 the two meals except a small loaf at noon, which he eats standing and 

 by the side of his alembics. The writer who relates this states that on 

 a visit to M. Chevreul he found him in the attitude just described, and 

 on expressing his surprise at the frugal manner in which he lived, M. 

 Chevreul observed, ' I am very old ' (this was in 1874), ' and I have yet 

 a great deal to do, so I do not wish to lose my time in eating.' " In 

 his work he is said to follow a motto that he has chosen from a maxim 

 by Malebranche, and which is regarded by " Nature " as affording a 

 true key to his life, his works, and his discoveries: "Chercher tou- 

 jours l'infaillibilite, sans avoir pretention de l'atteindre jamais" ("Al- 

 ways to seek infallibility, without having the pretension of ever reach- 

 ing it"). 



