14 THE STORY OF GERM LIFE. 



microscopic organisms; but these observations 

 were known only to a few, and were ignored by 

 the majority of scientists. 



It was Louis Pasteur who brought bacteria to 

 the front, and it was by his labours that these or- 

 ganisms were rescued from the obscurity of scien- 

 tific publications and made objects of general and 

 crowning interest. It was Pasteur who first suc- 

 cessfully combated the chemical theory of fer- 

 mentation by showing that albuminous matter 

 had no inherent tendency to decomposition. It 

 was Pasteur who first clearly demonstrated that 

 these little bodies, like all larger animals and 

 plants, come into existence only by ordinary 

 methods of reproduction, and not by any sponta- 

 neous generation, as had been earlier claimed. 

 It was Pasteur who first proved that such a com- 

 mon phenomenon as the souring of milk was pro- 

 duced by microscopic organisms growing in the 

 milk. It was Pasteur who first succeeded in dem- 

 onstrating that certain species of microscopic or- 

 ganisms are the cause of certain diseases, and in 

 suggesting successful methods of avoiding them. 

 All these discoveries were made in rapid succes- 

 sion. Within ten years of the time that his name 

 began to be heard in this connection by scien- 

 tists, the subject had advanced so rapidly that 

 it had become evident that here was a new 

 subject of importance to the scientific world, if 

 not to the public at large. The other important 

 discoveries which Pasteur made it is not our pur- 

 pose to mention here. His claim to be consid- 

 ered the founder of bacteriology will be recog- 

 nised from what has already been mentioned. 

 It was not that he first discovered the organisms, 

 or first studied them ; it was not that he first sug- 



