SCIENCE AND WAR 229 



to witness the triumphs of Roux, Yersin, Metchni- 

 koff, and other disciples of Pasteur. In the address 

 prepared for this occasion the veteran scientist 

 wrote : 



" If I might be allowed, M. le President, to con- 

 clude by a philosophical remark, inspired by your 

 presence in this home of work, I should say that 

 two contrary laws seem to be wrestling with each 

 other at the present time; the one a law of blood 

 and death, ever devising new means of destruc- 

 tion and forcing nations to be constantly ready for 

 the battlefield the other, a law of peace, work, 

 and health, ever developing new means of delivering 

 man from the scourges which beset him. 



" The one seeks violent conquests, the other the 

 relief of humanity. The latter places one human life 

 above any victory ; while the former would sacrifice 

 hundreds and thousands of lives to the ambition of 

 one. The law of which we are the instruments 

 seeks, even in the midst of carnage, to cure the san- 

 guinary ills of the law of war; the treatment in- 

 spired by our antiseptic methods may preserve thou- 

 sands of soldiers. Which of these two laws will 

 ultimately prevail God alone knows. But we may 

 assert that French science will have tried, by obey- 

 ing the law of humanity, to extend the frontiers of 

 life." 



