CHAPTER V 



1860—1864 



On January 30, 1860 the Academie des Sciences conferred 

 on Pasteur the Prize for Experimental Physiology. Claude 

 Bernard, who drew up the report, recalled how much Pasteur's 

 experiments in alcoholic fermentation, lactic fermentation, the 

 fermentation of tartaric acid, had been appreciated by the 

 Academie. He dwelt upon the great physiological interest of 

 the results obtained. "It is," he concluded, *'by reason of 

 that physiological tendency in Pasteur's researches, that the 

 Commission has unanimously selected him for the 1859 Prize 

 for Experimental Physiology." 



That same January, Pasteur wrote to Chappuis: **I am 

 pursuing as best I can these studies on fermentation which are 

 of great interest, connected as they are with the impenetrable 

 mystery of Life and Death. I am hoping to mark a decisive 

 step very soon by solving, without the least confusion, the 

 celebrated question of spontaneous generation. Already I could 

 speak, but I want to push my experiments yet further. There 

 is so much obscurity, together with so much passion, on both 

 sides, that I shall require the accuracy of an arithmetical 

 problem to convince my opponents by my conclusions. I intend 

 to attain even that." 



This progress was depicted to his father in the following 

 letter, dated February 7, 1860— 



' ' I think I told you that I should read a second and last lec- 

 ture on my old researches on Friday, at the Chemical Society, 

 before several members of the Institute — amongst others, 

 Messrs. Dumas and Claude Bernard. That lecture has had the 

 same success as the first. M. Biot heard about it the next day 

 through some distinguished persons who were in the audience, 

 and sent for me in order to kindly express his great satisfaction, 



''After I had finished, M. Dumas, who occupied the chaiie 



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