190 LOUIS PASTEUR 



tation of a medal. "His arrival," according to 

 Radot, "was a triumphal affair; there were deco- 

 rations at the station, music, triumphal arches of 

 flowers and shrubs in the streets, speeches from the 

 Mayor, presentation of the Municipal Council, of 

 the Chamber and Tribunal of Commerce. All the 

 village was en fete. The music of the band was 

 almost drowned by the acclamations of the peo- 

 ple." "For us all," the President of the Aubenas 

 Silk Syndicate said, "you have been the kindly 

 genius whose magical intervention conjured away 

 the curse which was ruining us; in you we salute 

 our benefactor." 



Before he could return to Paris the Agricultural 

 Society of the Gard gave a banquet in his honor 

 at Nimes and presented him with a medal for his 

 services to agriculture. A demonstration of the 

 efficacy of the anthrax inoculation was planned 

 (for there were still many doubting Thomases) 

 and the next day the experiments were carried out. 

 The plan of the experiments was practically the 

 same as those conducted at Melun and the results 

 were equally decisive and convincing. The Agri- 

 cultural Society of Herault, before whom Pasteur 

 gave a lecture, desired him to turn his attention to 

 a disease prevalent in the region termed "the rot." 



