PKEFACE 



It lias been a great satisfaction to me to carry out tlie 

 wish of my dear friend Elie Metchnikofi, and arrange 

 for the production of an English translation of his 

 biography. The account of his life and work written 

 by Olga Metchnikoff is a remarkable and beautiful 

 record of the development and activities of a great 

 discoverer. It is remarkable because it is seldom 

 that one who undertakes such a task has had so 

 constant a share in, and so complete a knowledge and 

 understanding of, the life portrayed as in the present 

 case : seldom that the intimate thought and mental 

 " adventure " of a discoverer presents so clear and 

 consistent a history. It is beautiful because it is 

 put before us with perfect candour and simplicity 

 guided by rare intelligence and inspired by deep 

 affection. Madame Metchnikoff has drawn the 

 picture of the development of a single-minded 

 character absolutely and tenaciously devoted to a 

 high purpose — the improvement of human life. It 

 is a story of " struggles and adventures," but they 

 are wholly in the field of the investigation of Nature. 

 We read here little or nothing of the quest for personal 

 advancement, for fortune or official position. These 

 things had no attraction for Metchnikoff. He left 



