HOW TO PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY 415 



fifteen years later one out of all his fellows and prede- 

 cessors is recognized as the incomparable teacher and 

 discoverer — the inspirer of others, the one great man of 

 half a century. He must be chosen by his colleagues, 

 his fellow-workers, not by political wire-pullers nor by 

 any variety of social " Bumble." He is given labora- 

 tories and assistants, and men come to consult him, to 

 sit under him, work for him, from all parts of the world. 

 Louis Pasteur was such a man. Huxley pointed out by 

 what a vast public expenditure Pasteur was gradually 

 sifted out from his fellows, and made professor in the 

 Normal School of Paris. Of course, a good many 

 inferior people got a share of the training provided, 

 and did some unimportant things ; but if we put them 

 aside it is perfectly true (as a calculation of the expenses 

 of the whole network of State-supported schools and 

 colleges and bursaries through which he passed will show) 

 that the capture or discovery of Pasteur cost the French 

 nation about i^2 5,000,000. He was worth it, not only 

 to France, but to every other nationality — and more, too, 

 more than can be measured by gold. His name, 

 honoured throughout the world on account of the 

 splendid discoveries associated with it, gave self-respect, 

 courage, and healthy pride to France at a time when 

 she had cruelly suffered. Ten years ago the most 

 popular newspaper in France took a " plebiscite " to 

 determine who, in the general estimation of the French 

 people, was the greatest Frenchman of the nineteenth 

 century — the century which included the first Napoleon, 

 Victor Hugo, Gambetta. The vote was given by some 

 millions, and resulted in a majority for Louis Pasteur. 

 Would Englishmen have shown such discernment ? 

 Such a man is absolutely necessary as the head of any 

 great institute which exists for the purpose of scientific 

 discovery. Such men, smaller it may be, but of the same 



1 



