NEW CONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE 



We lack in America anything just like these three 

 institutions, as we lack anything like the German 

 university system, which gives German professors 

 so wide a latitude of time for original experimental 

 work. It may be that one cause of our inferiority 

 in a scientific way lies in this want. 



Each of these celebrated seats has a history that 

 is unique. The Pasteur Institute was founded as 

 a national memorial to the illustrious man whose 

 name it bears. That restless, tireless genius had 

 saved France millions of treasure and thousands of 

 lives. The silk industry, the wine industry, med- 

 icine, surgery, the dairy, stock-raising, the most in- 

 timate sources of national wealth, well-being and 

 happiness even, had felt the impress of his mighty 

 hand. Scorning the rich rewards which might have 

 been his had he chosen to put his discoveries under 

 the seal of letters patent, Pasteur deserved well of 

 his people. They understood it ; they honored him 

 as few men of science have ever been honored 

 while they were alive. But medals and decora- 

 tions did not suffice. So, when one of the great 

 newspapers opened a subscription for a splendid 

 memorial, for an institution wherein Pasteur and 

 his disciples might carry on their work under the 

 most favorable conditions, the response was in- 

 stantaneous and touching. There was hardly a 

 humble home in France which was not, in some 



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