HOME LIFE AND EARLY TRAINING 15 



prehend a problem/' his father wrote, "which I 

 afterwards found quite simple. When one must 

 learn in order to teach it is no easy thing." But 

 after a month he informed his son that "Josephine 

 does not care to rack her brains, as she says. 

 Nevertheless, I promise that her performances will 

 please you by your next holidays. " 



There were several students in the Ecole Nor- 

 male who made better records than Pasteur. He was 

 placed seventh when he passed the license examina- 

 tions. Out of fourteen students who presented 

 themselves for an examination for recruiting candi- 

 dates for professors to teach in secondary schools 

 Pasteur stood third of the four candidates who 

 passed. Chappuis, always confident of his friend's 

 superior merits, was wont to declare, "You will see 

 what Pasteur will become." One of Pasteur's most 

 distinguished teachers, the chemist Balard, who 

 also appreciated his talents, made him a laboratory 

 assistant, a post which gave him greater freedom 

 and opportunity for carrying on his work in chem- 

 istry. 



About this time (1846) a new chemist was added 

 to the faculty, a young man, August Laurent, 

 already known for the originality and importance 

 of his investigations. The theory of substitutions 



