322 THE LIFE OF PASTEUR 



" Jtme2, 1881. 



" It is only Thursday, and I am already writing to you ; it is 

 because a great result is now acquired. A wire from Melun 

 has just announced it. On Tuesday last, 31st May, we inocu- 

 lated all the sheep, vaccinated and non-vaccinated, with very 

 virulent splenic fever. It is not forty-eight hours ago. Well, 

 the telegram tells me that, when we arrive at two o'clock this 

 afternoon, all the non-vaccinated subjects will be dead ; eighteen 

 were already dead this morning, and the others dying. As to 

 the vaccinated ones, they are all well ; the telegram ends by 

 the words ' stunning success ' ; it is from the veterinary surgeon, 

 M. Bossignol. 



"It is too early yet for a final judgment; the vaccinated 

 sheep might yet fall ill. But when I write to you on Sunday, 

 if all goes well, it may be taken for granted that they will 

 henceforth preserve their good health , and that the success will 

 indeed have been startling. On Tuesday, we had a foretaste 

 of the final results. On Saturday and Sunday, two sheep had 

 been abstracted from the lot of twenty-five vaccinated sheep, 

 and two from the lot of twenty-five non-vaccinated ones, and 

 inoculated with a very virulent virus. Now, when on Tuesday 

 all the visitors arrived, amongst whom were M. Tisserand, M. 

 Patinot, the Prefect of Seine et Marne, M. Foucher de Careil, 

 Senator, etc., we found the two unvaccinated sheep dead, and 

 the two others in good health. I then said to one of the 

 veterinary surgeons who were present, ' Did I not read in a 

 newspaper, signed by you, a propos of the virulent little 

 organism of saliva, " There ! one more microbe ; when there are 

 100 we shall make a cross "?' ' It is true,' he immediately 

 answered, honestly. 'But I am a converted and repentant 

 sinner.' 'Well,' I answered, ' allow me to remind you of the 

 words of the Gospel : Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner 

 that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons 

 which need no repentance.' Another veterinary surgeon who 

 was present said, ' I will bring you another, M. Colin.' ' You 

 are mistaken,' I replied. ' M. Colin contradicts for the sake 

 of contradicting, and does not believe because he will not 

 believe. You would have to cure a case of neurosis, and you 

 cannot do that I ' Joy reigns in the laboratory and in the house. 

 Rejoice, my dear children." 



When Pasteur arrived, at two o'clock in the afternoon, at 

 the farmyard of Pouilly le Fort, accompanied by his young 



