THE LABORATORY OF THE ECOLE NORMALE. 273 



and true light ; that of the interest it offers to science, 

 and the results it may have in store for the benefit of 

 humanity. Moreover, in Pasteur's laboratory, every 

 dog subjected to vivisection is chloroformed. The per- 

 sons who take up the controversy about vivisection are 

 careful that the outside world shall see only the suffer- 

 ing and anguish of the animal, where the solution of a 

 problem should be the object kept in view. Would the 

 English physiologist Harvey have discovered the cir- 

 culation of the blood, if he had not practised vivisection 

 on deer in the park of Charles I. ? Would Claude 

 Bernard have been able, without vivisection, to demon- 

 strate the glycogenic function of the liver ? If Pasteur 

 had not sacrificed some fowls and sheep, would 

 the great scientific fact of the attenuation of virus 

 have been discovered ? If 500 dogs had to perish, 

 what would that be, compared with the discovery to- 

 morrow of the cause of hydrophobia, and of the 

 means of protecting humanity against this frightful 

 scourge ? 



On one occasion, in presence of a large assembly, 

 Pasteur made an experiment on atmospheric oxygen. 

 He placed under a glass bell a bird, which in a short 

 time, after having consumed the oxygen contained 

 in the bell, gathered itself up into a ball, opened its 

 beak, and shut its eyes, as if it were going to die. 

 At this moment Pasteur introduced a second sparrow, 

 which, passing directly from the ordinary air into 



