6 LOUIS PASTEUR. 



Barbet, as the Franc-Comtois, with provincial fami- 

 liarity, used to call him. Pasteur begged to be allowed 

 to enter his institution, not as an assistant, but as 

 a simple pupil. Knowing how slender were the means 

 of his young compatriot, M. Barbet reduced the fees 

 of his pupil by one-third. Such kindness was cus- 

 tomary with the pere Barbet, who did not like to be 

 reminded of his generosity. This, however, gives 

 double pleasure to him who records it. 



The year passes, the time of the examination 

 arrives, and Pasteur is received as fourth on the list. 

 Thus at last, in the month of October 1843, he finds 

 himself in that Ecole Normale in which he was 

 destined to take so great a place. Pasteur's taste for 

 chemistry had become a passion which he could now 

 satisfy to his heart's content. Chemistry was at this 

 time taught at the Sorbonne by M. Dumas and at the 

 Ecole Normale by M. Balard. The pupils of the Ecole 

 attended both courses of lectures. Different as were 

 the two professors, both of them exercised great influ- 

 ence on their pupils. M. Dumas, with his serene 

 gravity and his profound respect for his auditory, 

 never allowed the smallest incorrectness to slip into 

 his exposition. M. Balard, with a vivacity quite 

 juvenile, with the excitement of a southerner in the 

 tribune, did not always give his words time to follow 

 his thoughts. It was he who once, showing a little 

 potash to his audience, exclaimed with a fervour which 



