1860— 1854j 105 



followed by several guides and taking with them all kinds 

 of provisions and some little glass flasks witn a siendf^X pointed 

 neck. They crossed the pass of Venasque without incident 

 and decided to go further, to the Rencluse. Some isard- 

 stalkers having come towards the strange-looking party, they 

 were signalled away; even the guides were invited to stand 

 aside. It was necessary to prevent any dusts from reaching 

 the bulbs, which were thus opened at 8 p.m. at a height 

 of 2,083 metres. But eighty-three metres higher than the 

 Montanvert did not seem to them enough, they wished to 

 go higher. '*We shall sleep on the mountain," said the 

 three scientists. Fatigue and bitter cold, they withstood 

 everything with the courage inspired by a problem to solve. 

 The next morning they climbed across that rocky chaos, and 

 at last reached the foot of one of the greatest glaciers of the 

 Maladetta, 3,000 metres above the sea-level. *'A very 

 deep narrow crevasse," says Pouchet, *' seemed to as the 

 most suitable place for our experiments." Four phials (filled 

 with a decoction of hay) were opened and sealed again with 

 precautions that Pouchet considered as exaggerated. 



Pouchet, in his merely scientific report, does not relate 

 the return journey, yet more perilous than the ascent. At 

 one of the most dangerous places, Joly slipped, and would 

 have rolled into a precipice, but for the strength and presence 

 of mind of one of the guides. All three at last came back 

 to Luchon, forgetful of dangers run, and glorying at havin» 

 reached 1,000 metres higher than Pasteur. They triumphed 

 when they saw alteration in their flasks! ** Therefore,*' 

 said Pouchet, '^the air of the Maladetta, and of high 

 mountains in general, is not incapable of producing altera- 

 tion in an eminently putrescible liquor; therefore heterogenia 

 or the production of a new being devoid of parents, but 

 formed at the expense of ambient organic matter, is for us a 

 reality." 



The Academy of Sciences was taking more and more 

 interest in this debate. In November, 1863, Joly and Musset 

 expressed a wish that the Academy should appoint a Com- 

 mission, before whom the principal experiments of Pasteur 

 and of his adversaries should be repeated. On this occasion 

 Flourens expressed his opinion thus: *'I am blamed in certain 

 quarters for having no opinion on the question of spontaneous 

 generation. As long as my opinion was not formed, I bad 



