LAST DAYS 235 



the treatment of wounds from a matter of em- 

 piricism, uncertain and too often disastrous, to a 

 scientific art of assured beneficence. Thanks to 

 you, surgery has undergone a complete revolution 

 which has robbed it of its terrors and extended its 

 efficacious powers almost without limit. Medicine 

 is indebted no less than surgery to your profound 

 and philosophic studies. You have lifted the veil 

 which for centuries had overhung infectious dis- 

 eases. You have discovered and demonstrated 

 their microbic nature. Thanks to your initiative 

 and in many cases to your special and personal 

 labors, there are already a number of these perni- 

 cious disorders of the causes of which we have a 

 complete knowledge. . . . 



"Infectious diseases constitute, as you know, the 

 great majority of the maladies which afflict the 

 human race. You can therefore well understand 

 that the sciences of medicine and surgery are 

 eager upon this solemn occasion to offer you the 

 profound homage of their admiration and grati- 

 tude." 



At the close of this address, the greeting of Pas- 

 teur and Lister, the two great figures in the crea- 

 tion of a great epoch in medicine and surgery, 

 brought tumultuous applause. No one in that re- 



