354 THE LIFE OF PASTEUR 



Pasteur, which belongs to France itself. Perhaps, however, 

 he will allow me to prefer a last request: he has delivered us 

 from the terrible scourge of splenic fever ; will he now turn to a 

 no less redoubtable infection, viz. rot, which is, so to speak, 

 endemic in our regions? He will surely find the remedy 

 for iV 



**I have hardly finished my experiments on splenic fever," 

 answered Pasteur gently, ''and you want me to find a remedy 

 for rot I Why not for phylloxera as well?" And, while 

 regretting that the days were not longer, he added, with the 

 energy of which he had just given a new proof: **As to efforts, 

 I am yours usque ad mortem,^' 



He afterwards was the honoured guest at the banquet pre- 

 pared for him. It was now not only Sericiculture, but also 

 Agriculture, which proclaimed its infinite gratitude to him; he 

 was given an enthusiastic ovation, in which, as usual, he saw 

 no fame for himself, but for work and science only. 



On May 11, at nine o'clock in the morning, he was again at 

 Nimes to meet the physicians, veterinary surgeons, cattle- 

 breeders, and shepherds at the Bridge of Justice. Of the 

 twelve sheep, six were already dead, the others dying; it was 

 easy to see that their symptoms were the same as are charac- 

 teristic of the ordinary splenic fever. '*M. Pasteur gave all 

 necessary explanations with his usual modesty and clearness," 

 said the local papers. 



'*And now let us go back to work!" exclaimed Pasteur, as 

 he stepped into the Paris express; he was impatient to r^^turn 

 to his laboratory. 



In order to give him a mark of public gratitude greater still 

 than that which came from this or that district, the Academic 

 des Sciences resolved to organize a general movement of 

 Scientific Societies. It was decided to present him with a 

 medal, engraved by Alphee Dubois, and bearing on one side 

 Pasteur's profile and on the other the inscription: *'To Louis 

 Pasteur, his colleagues, his friends, and his admirers. ' ^ 



On June 25, a Sunday, a delegation, headed by Dumas, and 

 composed of Boussingault, Bouley, Jamin, Daubree, Bertin, 

 Tisserand and Davaine arrived at the Ecole Normale and found 

 Pasteur in the midst of his family. 



*'My dear Pasteur," said Dumas, in his deep voice, ''forty 

 vears ago, you entered this building as a student. From the 



