CHAPTER XII 



LAST DAYS 



The conquest of hydrophobia was the crowning 

 achievement of Pasteur's career. In the Pasteur 

 Institute, which afforded unrivalled facilities for 

 research, an efficient corps of well-trained co- 

 workers carried on investigations in the fields 

 opened up by Pasteur's genius. After 1888, Pas- 

 teur devoted most of his time to the work of this 

 institution and to superintending the treatments 

 given to patients for hydrophobia. It was his 

 habit to go the rounds of the patients in the morn- 

 ing, inquiring how they were progressing and 

 cheering them with words of encouragement. The 

 children enlisted his especial concern. "When I 

 approach a child," he says, "he inspires me with 

 two sentiments; that of tenderness for what he is 

 now, and respect for what he may hereafter be- 

 come." 



After perfecting his treatment, which was now 

 administered by the efficient staff of the Institute, 



Pasteur could rest with the assurance that all had 



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