1873—1877 19 



under chloroform in a very carefully selected part of the body 

 — for the experiment would be a very delicate one — and in 

 absolutely pure air, that is, air absolutely devoid of any kind 

 of germs, afterwards maintaining a pure atmosphere around 

 the wound, and having recourse to no dressing whatever. I 

 am inclined to think that perfect healing would ensue under 

 such conditions, for there would be nothing to hinder the work 

 of repair and reorganization which must be accomplished on 

 the surface of a wound if it is to heal." 



He explained in that way the advantage accruing to 

 hygiene, in hospitals and elsewhere, from infinite precautions 

 of cleanliness and the destroying of infectious germs. Himself 

 a great investigator of new ideas, he intended to compel his 

 colleagues at the Academie de Medecine to include the patho- 

 genic share of the infinitesimally small among matters de- 

 manding the attention of medicine and surgery. The struggle 

 was a long, unceasing and painful one. In February, 1875, 

 his presence gave rise to a discussion on ferments, which 

 lasted until the end of March. In the course of this discus- 

 sion he recalled the experiments he had made fifteen years 

 before, describing how — in a liquid composed of mineral 

 elements, apart from the contact of atmospheric air and 

 previously raised to ebullition — vibriones could be sown and 

 subsequently seen to flourish and multiply, offering the sight 

 of those two important phenomena : life without air, and 

 fermentation. 



"They are far behind us now," he said^ "they are now 

 relegated to the rank of chimeras, those theories of fermenta- 

 tion imagined by Berzelius, Mitscherlich , and Liebig, and re- 

 edited with an accompaniment of new hypotheses by Messrs. 

 Pouchet, Fremy, Trecul, and Bechamp. Who would now 

 dare to affirm that fermentations are contact phenomena, 

 phenomena of motion, communicated by an altering albuminoid 

 matter, or phenomena produced by semi-organized materia, 

 transforming themselves into this or into that? All those 

 creations of fancy fall to pieces before this simple and decisive 

 experiment." 



Pasteur ended up his speech by an unexpected attack on 

 the pompous etiquette of the Academy's usual proceedings, 

 urging his colleagues to remain within the bounds of a 

 Scientific discussion instead of making flowery speeches. He 

 was much applauded, and his exhortation taker in good part. 



8 



