1880—1882 117 



fortably seated, surrounded with more Littre than I can 

 possibly get through." 



For some months, several members of the Academie 

 Francaise — according to the traditions of the Society which 

 has ever thought it an honour to number among its members 

 scientists such as Cuvier, Flourens, Biot, Claude Bernard, 

 J. B. Dumas — had been urging Pasteur to become a candidate to 

 the place left vacant by Littre. Pasteur was anxious to know 

 not only the works, but the life of him whose place he might 

 be called upon to fill. It was with some emotion that he first 

 came upon the following lines printed on the title-page of the 

 translation of the works of Hippocrates ; they are a dedication 

 by Littre" to the memory of his father, a sergeant-major in the 

 Marines under the Revolution. 



... Prepared by his lessons and by his example, I have 

 been sustained through this long work by his ever present 

 memory. I wish to inscribe his name on the first page of this 

 book, in the writing of which he has had so much share from 

 his grave, so that the work of the father should not be forgotten 

 in the work of the son, and that a pious and just gratitude 

 should connect the work of the living with the heritage of the 

 dead. ..." 



Pasteur in 1876 had obeyed a similar filial feeling when he 

 wrote on the first page of his Studies on Beer — 



' To the memory of my father, a soldier under the first 

 Empire, and a knight of the Legion of Honour. The more 

 1 have advanced in age, the better I have understood thy love 

 and the superiority of thy reason. The efforts I have given ' 

 to these Studies and those which have preceded them are the 

 fruit of thy example and advice. Wishing to honour these 

 pious recollections, I dedicate this work to thy memory." 



The two dedications are very similar. Those two soldiers' 

 sons had kept the virile imprint of the paternal virtues. A 

 great tenderness was also in them both; Littre, when he lost 

 his mother, had felt a terrible grief, comparable to Pasteur's 

 under the same circumstances. 



In spite of Pasteur's interest in studying Littre in the 

 Bordeaux library, he did not cease thinking of yellow fever. 

 He often saw M. Berchon, the sanitary director, and inquired 

 of him whether there were any news of the Richelieu. A 

 young physician, Dr. Talmy, had expressed a desire to join 

 Pasteur at Bordeaux and to obtain permission , when the time 



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