LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 267 



through the winter ; but now he began to be incom- 

 moded by the heat. 



M. Koux then proposed that we should be trans- 

 ferred to Pasteur's old flat ; the rooms were spacious 

 and much cooler. This idea rejoiced and touched 

 Elie very much. As he thanked M. Roux, he said to 

 him : " See how my life is bound with the Pasteur 

 Institute. I have worked here for years ; I am 

 nursed here during my illness ; in order to complete 

 the connection I ought to be incinerated in the great 

 oven where our dead animals are burnt, and my 

 ashes could be kept in an urn in one of the cupboards 

 in the library." " What a gruesome joke ! " answered 

 M. Roux, really taking those words for a joke. But 

 directly after he was gone Elie turned to me with an 

 anxious look and said, " Well, what do you think of 

 my idea ? " I saw by his earnest expression that he 

 meant what he said, and I answered that I thought it 

 a very good idea. The Pasteur Institute had become 

 his refuge, the centre of all his scientific interests ; 

 he loved it ; he had spent his best years there. Let 

 his ashes be laid there some day ; it would be in 

 perfect harmony with his past. Let us only hope 

 that would not be too soon ! But why had he given 

 his words that jesting form which must have misled 

 M. Roux ? He explained it to me : knowing how 

 deeply conscientious his friend was, he did not wish 

 to express his desire as a dying wish in order that he 

 should feel no obligation. A simple jest, on the 

 contrary, left him absolutely free. 



On the 26th June, Elie was carried into Pasteur's 

 flat ; it was a very great satisfaction to him, it brought 

 him nearer his laboratory. Now and then, very 

 seldom now, he thought he might return there one 



