4»32 THE LIFE OF PASTEUR 



A few days later, the subscription from Alsace-Lorraine 

 brought in 43,000 fr. Pasteur received it with grateful emotion, 

 and was pleased and touched to find the name of little Joseph 

 Meister among the list of private subscribers. It was now 

 eleven months since he had been bitten so cruelly by the dog, 

 whose rabic condition had immediately been recognized by the 

 German authorities. Pasteur ever kept a corner of his heart 

 for the boy who had caused him such anxiety. 



Pasteur *s name was now familiar to all those who were try- 

 ing to benefit humanity; his presence at charitable gatherings 

 was considered as a happy omen, and he was asked to preside 

 on many such occasions. He was ever ready with his help and 

 sj^mpathy, speaking in public, answering letters from private 

 individuals, giving wholesome advice to young people who came 

 to him for it, and doing nothing by halves. If he found the 

 time, even during that period when the study of rabies was 

 absorbing him, to undertake so many things and to achieve so 

 many tasks, he owed it to Mme. Pasteur, who watched over 

 his peace, keeping him safe from intrusions and interruptions. 

 This retired, almost recluse life, enabled him to complete many 

 works, a few of which would have sufficed to make several 

 scientists celebrated. 



Every morning, between ten and eleven o'clock, Pasteur 

 walked down the Rue Claude-Bernard to the Rue Vauquelin, 

 where a few temporary buildings had been erected to facilitate 

 the treatment of hydrophobia, close to the rabbit hutches, hen- 

 coops, and dog kennels which occupied the yard of the old 

 College Rollin. The patients under treatment walked about 

 cheerfully amidst these surroundings, looking like holiday 

 makers in a Zoological Garden. Children, whose tears were 

 already dried at the second inoculation, ran about merrily. 

 Pasteur, who loved the little ones, always kept sweets or new 

 copper coins for them in his drawer. One little girl amused 

 herself by having holes bored in those coins, and hung them 

 round her neck like a necklace ; she was wearing this ornament 

 on the day of her departure, when she ran to kiss the great man 

 as she would have kissed her grandfather. 



Drs. Grancher, Roux, Chantemesse, and Charrin came by 

 turns to perform the inoculations. A surgery ward had been 

 installed to treat the numerous wounds of the patients, and 

 entrusted to the young and energetic Dr. Terrillon. 



