290 



NATURE 



[July 28, 1898 



A LIFE OF PASTEUR. 

 Pasteur. (The Century Science Series.) By Percy 

 Frankland, F.R.S., and Mrs. Percy Frankland. Pp. 

 vi + 224. (London : Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1898.) 



IT is a pleasing task to review a book devoted to the 

 life of a great man, and especially so when that 

 book, like the one before us, does not pretend to be an 

 exhaustive biography, but is intended to tell simple 

 salient facts in a straightforward and scientific manner. 

 This is well accomplished in sixteen chapters ; and those 

 who read them will have had amply demonstrated to 

 them a most lovable and simple character, and a series 

 of epoch-making discoveries which the reader can never 

 fail to appreciate, for they were all directed to alleviate 

 suffering and distress. In the first chapter one seems 

 to obtain a clue to the bent of Pasteur's mind, for at 

 the age of twenty-five he had worked out the optical 

 properties of the tartaric acids, and had laid the found- 

 ation of our knowledge of the grouping of atoms. In 

 the manner in which he studies the growth of the 

 crystals one sees at this early stage the mind of the 

 biologist, and step by step this becomes more noticeable. 

 In the second chapter, two great events are briefly and 

 sympathetically chronicled by the authors. The first is 

 his marriage, the second emphasises his remarkable 

 observation upon the action of fermentation upon the 

 tartaric acids, showing the delicate selective action of 

 organisms in readily picking out what appear to be 

 chemically identical substances. " His work during this 

 period stands out as one of the most remarkable and 

 artistic monuments in the annals of chemical science." 



Chapter iii. is a serviceable and useful one. Pasteur is 

 created Dean of the Faculty of Science at Lille, and at 

 once directs his scientific knowledge to the requirements 

 of the place. The town is a centre for the manufacture 

 of alcohol from beetroot, and Pasteur studies ferment- 

 ation, and Lille and the world at large has benefited by 

 these studies. It is often stated that the seats of learn- 

 ing are not in touch with the communities in the midst 

 of which they live ; it is due, to a great extent, to a lack 

 of the sense of citizenship and patriotism, both of which 

 were developed in a remarkable degree in Pasteur. In 

 the brief sketch of the dawn of fermentation, the very 

 natural opposition of the chemists, and of the others of 

 a less bold frame of mind, is admirably brought out, and 

 Liebig and Helmholtz stand forth in the opposition as 

 men oi narrower conception. 



In 1857 Pasteur was made Director of the £cole 

 Normale, an honourable title to which was attached a 

 modest salary but no laboratory, France in no way differ- 

 ing from us in this respect. By this time the biological 

 turn of Pasteur's mind had become much more pro- 

 nounced. He not only saw the living cell at work and 

 producing the fermentation of beer and vinegar, but he 

 recognised that putrefaction and decay were ferment- 

 ative processes produced by aerobic and anaerobic 

 organisms. And just as his studies in the fermentation 

 of beer marked a new period in the history of brewing, 

 so at the present time his observations upon putrefaction 

 are being made the basis for the treatment of sewage. 

 Criticism and opposition to his views had by this time 

 largely increased, but the result was excellent and far- 

 NO. 1500, VOL. 58] 



reaching ; for he laid the ghost of spontaneous gener- 

 ation, and demonstrated to the world that for their foods 

 and infective diseases there could be effective sterilisation. 



In Chapters vii.-ix. a still further development of fer- 

 mentation is developed, and one which was destined to 

 lead directly on to Pasteur's greatest service in the cause 

 of humanity. In these chapters are unfolded his observ- 

 ations upon abnormal fermentation or the diseases of 

 wine, beer, and of silkworms. The authors show how the 

 industries concerned profited by these researches, and 

 how the study of the diseases of the silkworms at once 

 pointed out the necessity in the case of man and animals 

 of intelligent central control in all infectious processes. 



In Chapter x. and onwards the final work of Pasteur 

 is described. Henceforth Pasteur is known as the 

 pathologist who was able to bring a vast storehouse 

 of chemical knowledge to his aid. He enters upon a new 

 career, and soon begins to exercise as profound an in- 

 fluence in the medical world as the yeast cells did in the 

 fermentative processes which he was the first to describe. 

 Not only in France, but throughout Europe, medical men 

 were encouraged by Pasteur's successes to come forward 

 and prosecute their own studies into the cause of disease. 

 In this manner it is clearly brought out, Davaine pursued 

 his researches in anthrax, and Lord Lister his investiga- 

 tions in the treatment of wounds, methods which were 

 destined to inaugurate a new epoch in surgery. Pasteur 

 himself led the way in one direction of vast importance 

 and utility, namely immunisation. This is developed in 

 Chapters xii. and xiii., and the reader cannot fail to be 

 filled with enthusiasm when he thinks of the beneficial 

 results which have accrued and are likely to accrue 

 from researches, prompted by a profound conviction in 

 Pasteur's mind that there was a possibility of immunising 

 against disease. 



Chapter xiv. treats upon the researches in rabies, 

 and every one will share the feelings of the authors 

 in the stress they lay upon this most marvellously 

 bold step in the cure of disease ; it was probably his 

 greatest achievement. The transformation worked in 

 the medical profession had become complete, and 

 laboratories similar to the Pasteur Institute were erected 

 all over the civilised v/orld ; researches multiplied, and a 

 new literature sprung into existence. We would wish 

 that those who so hotly criticise Pasteur's work, could 

 pause a little and read this chapter on rabies, and could 

 see with us, something beyond the mere experiments 

 therein recorded, the working of a civilising force which 

 Pasteur has caused to take the form of a study in 

 hydrophobia. R- B. 



GARDEN-CRAFT. 

 Garden- Making. By L. H. Bailey. Pp. vii + 417. 



(London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1898.) 

 The Pruning-Book. By L. H. Bailey. Pp. ix -I- 537. 



(London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1898.) 



THESE two volumes of the Garden-Craft series may, 

 inasmuch as they deal mainly with technical sub- 

 jects, be here taken together. Products of the pen of 

 Prof. Bailey, originality of treatment may be confidently 

 looked for and as certainly found. Neither principles 

 nor practice in America differ in essentials from those 



