228 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



boy, Joseph Meister, from a small place in Alsace 

 was brought by his mother to Paris for treatment. 

 He had been severely bitten by a mad dog. Pasteur, 

 with great trepidation, but moved by his usual com- 

 passion, undertook the case. The inoculations of 

 the attenuated virus began at once. The boy suf- 

 fered little inconvenience, playing about the labo- 

 ratory during the ten days the treatment lasted. 

 Pasteur was racked with fears alternating with 

 hopes, his anxiety growing more intense as the viru- 

 lence of the inoculations increased. On August 20, 

 however, even he was convinced that the treatment 

 was a complete success. In October a shepherd lad, 

 who, though badly bitten himself, had saved some 

 other children from the attack of a rabid dog, was 

 the second one to benefit by the great discovery. 

 Pasteur's exchange of letters with these boys after 

 they had returned to their homes reveals the kindli- 

 ness of his disposition. His sentiment toward chil- 

 dren had regard both to what they were and to what 

 they might become. One patient, brought to him 

 thirty-seven days after being bitten, he failed to 

 save. By March 1 Pasteur reported that three hun- 

 dred and fifty cases had been treated with only one 

 death. 



When subscriptions were opened for the erection 

 and endowment of the Pasteur Institute, a sum of 

 2,586,680 francs was received in contributions from 

 many different parts of the world. Noteworthy 

 among the contributors were the Emperor of Brazil, 

 the Czar of Eussia, the Sultan of Turkey, and the 

 peasants of Alsace. On November 14, 1888, Presi- 

 dent Carnot opened the institution, which was soon 



