212 PASTEUR : THE HISTORY OF A MIND 



when the fruits come out of their matrass healthy, 

 of good flavor and sometimes, as in the case of prunes, 

 more firm than when they entered? Do you not know, 

 furthermore, that M. Miintz has made the same ex- 

 periment on entire living plants, which produce alcohol 

 when made to live for some time in carbonic acid, and 

 which resume their ordinary existence, when restored 

 to the air, with as much facility as a traveller who comes 

 out of a tunnel and finds once more the air and sunshine?" 

 And thus the discussion, which I have made a dialogue, 

 and which was a monologue, might have been continued 

 a long time without bringing forth any new arguments 

 or elements of conviction, for the experiments of Bernard 

 were too vague to signify anything, and Pasteur has 

 not added anything new to this point of the discussion 

 which has remained sterile. 



It was the same with a lively and somewhat passionate 

 dialogue which took place between Pasteur and Berthelot 

 on the work of Bernard. This, however, does not lack 

 interest. There is always interest in a strife between 

 men of this stamp. There is always profit in hearing 

 them develop their arguments and discuss the ideas 

 of their adversary. But here the opponents were not 

 equal. One of them led into a field which was not his 

 own, fenced a little at random, and sometimes laid 

 himself open to a thrust. As soon as he left the least 

 spot unguarded, the blow of the button came straight, 

 promptly, irresistibly. It was truly a curious passage 

 at arms, but as it did not bring forth any new facts, its 

 interest has disappeared. Pasteur came out of it more 

 fixed in his ideas, and Berthelot, apparently, without 

 having yielded any of his. This should lead us to 

 distrust all discussions, even scientific ones. 



It is a common belief that a scientific discussion has 

 a greater chance of coming to something than any other, 



