188 LOUIS PASTEUR 



precursor of his own discoveries. Doctor Daren- 

 berg, the correspondent of the Journal des Debats, 

 wrote that, "Pasteur was the greatest success of 

 the Congress," proud that it was the representative 

 of France that received such hearty applause. 



On his return to Paris several of the friends of 

 Pasteur belonging to the Academie Franchise en- 

 deavored to induce him to become a candidate for 

 the vacancy in that body created by the death of 

 the great scholar, Littre. It was the custom for 

 candidates to call on members and solicit their sup- 

 port. Alexandre Dumas, the dramatist, refused to 

 allow Pasteur to call on him, declaring, "It is I, 

 who will go and thank him for consenting to be- 

 come one of us"; and M. Grandeau wrote that, 

 "When Claud Bernard and Pasteur consent to 

 enter the ranks of a Society, all the honor is for 

 the latter." Pasteur, who had declared, "I have 

 never in my life contemplated the great honor of 

 entering the Academie Frangaise," was duly elected 

 and began his preparation for the formal ceremony 

 that marked the initiation of new members. Radot 

 in his life of Pasteur has given us a most inter- 

 esting description of the ceremonies of this occa- 

 sion and I may refer to his book for fuller details. 

 Ernst Renan, to whose lot it fell, as President of 



