X LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



dark ground illumination with higli powers (Com- 

 mandant's method for film production), the newly- 

 discovered Treponema of syphilis, or the experimental 

 inoculation of a disease under study. Sometimes I 

 would lunch at his house, when, although he neither 

 smoked nor took alcoholic drinks himself, he made a 

 point of giving me first-rate claret and a good cigar. 

 It was about the year 1900 that he arranged for the 

 preparation of a pure " sour milk " made by the use 

 of a special lactic ferment (selected and cultivated 

 by himself), and this he took regularly. I found it a 

 most agreeable food, and for several years made it 

 an article of my own diet. He was very careful about 

 the possible contamination of uncooked food by 

 bacteria and the eggs of parasitic worms, and in 

 consequence had " rolls " sent to him from the bakers 

 each in its separate paper bag, whilst he would never 

 eat uncooked salads or fruit which could not be 

 rendered safe by " peeling." This was not an excess 

 of caution, but resulted from his characteristic deter- 

 mination to carry out in practice the directions given 

 by definite scientific knowledge, and to make the 

 attempt to lead so far as possible a life free from 

 disease. Often when I arrived in Paris he would 

 invite me to lunch at one of the leading cafes, and 

 though he ate very simple food himself took keen 

 pleasure in ordering the best for me and thoroughly 

 enjoyed the change of scene and the amenities of a 

 first-rate restaurant. During one of his visits to 

 London, I remember that he was invited, and I with 

 him, on two or three occasions, by leading London 



