1844—1849 29 



examine Vauquelin's new tanning process, which obviated the 

 necessity of keeping the skins so long in the pits, he asked 

 himself with scrupulous anxiety whether leathers prepared in 

 that way would last as long as the others. Could he safely 

 guarantee them to the shoemakers, who were unanimous in 

 praising the goods of the little tannery -yard, but alas equally 

 unanimous in forgetting to reward the disinterested tanner by 

 prompt payment? He supplied his family with the neces- 

 saries of life : what more did he want? When he had news 

 of his Normalien he was thoroughly happy. He associated 

 himself with his son's doings, sharing his enthusiasm over 

 Dumas' lectures, and taking an interest in Pouillet's classes : 

 Pouillet was a Franc-Comtois, and had been a student at the 

 Ecole Normale ; he was now Professor of Physics at the Sor- 

 bonne and a member of the Institut. 1 When Balard, a 

 lecturer at the Ecole, was nominated to the Academie des 

 Sciences, Louis told his father of it with the delight of an 

 admiring pupil. 



Like J. B. Dumas, Balard had been an apothecary's pupil. 

 When he spoke of their humble beginnings, Dumas was wont 

 to say rather pompously — " Balard and I were initiated into 

 our scientific life under the same conditions." When, at the 

 age of forty-two, he was made a member of the Institute, 

 Balard could not contain his joy ; he was quite a Southerner in 

 his language and gestures, and the adjective exuberant might 

 have been invented for him. But this same Southerner, ever 

 on the move as he was, belonged to a special race : he always 

 kept his word. "I was glad to note your pleasure at this 

 nomination," wrote Joseph Pasteur to his son; "it proves 



1 Institut de France. Name given collectively to the five following 

 societies — 



1. Academie Francaise, founded by Richelieu in 1635 in order to 

 polish and maintain the purity of the French language. It is composed 

 of forty Life members, and publishes from time to time a dictionary 

 which is looked upon as a standard test of correct French. 



2. Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, founded by Colbert in 

 1663. 



3. Academie des Sciences, also founded by Colbert in 1666. It has 

 published most valuable reports ever since 1699. 



4. Academie des Beaux-Arts, which includes the Academies of Paint- 

 ing, of Sculpture, of Music, and of Architecture. 



5. Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. 



It was in 1795 that these ancient academies, which had been sup- 

 pressed two years before by the Revolution, were reorganized and com- 

 bined together to form the Institut de France. [Trans.] 



