Industrial Chemistry 



full of impassioned zeal, of words that car- 

 ried you with them, uttered by an honest man 

 accomplished in the art of speaking, an orator 

 in the true sense of the word. In all my 

 school-experience, I had never had such a 

 treat. 



When the meeting broke up, my heart beat 

 faster than usual: 



'What a pity,' I thought, 'that my side, 

 the science side, cannot bring me into contact, 

 some day, with that inspector ! It seems to 

 me that we should become great friends.' 



I enquired his name of my colleagues, who 

 were always better-informed than I. They 

 told me it was Victor Duruy. 



Well, one day, two years later, as I was 

 looking after my Saint-Martial laboratory in 

 the midst of the steam from my vats, with my 

 hands the colour of boiled lobster-claws from 

 constant dipping in the indelible red of my 

 dyes, there walked in, unexpectedly, a person 

 whose features straightway seemed familiar. 

 I was right, it was the very man, the chief- 

 inspector whose speech had once stirred me. 

 M. Duruy was now minister of public instruc- 

 tion. He was styled, 'Your excellency;' and 

 this style, usually an empty formula, was well- 

 deserved in the present case, for our new min- 



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