1882—1884 129 



violent, so much so in fact that the local irritation sometimes 

 went so far as to cause the loss of part of the tail. At the end 

 of the same year (1882), Pasteur published in the Recueil de la 

 Medecine Veterinaire a paper indicating the following means 

 of preserving the virus in a state of purity— 



' Pure virus remains virulent for weeks and months. One 

 lung is sufficient to provide large quantities of it, and its purity 

 can easily be tested in a stove and even in ordinary tem- 

 perature. From one lung only, enough can be procured to 

 be used for many animals. Moreover, without having recourse 

 to additional lungs, the provision of virus could be maintained 

 in the following manner; it would suffice, before exhausting 

 the first stock of virus, to inoculate a young calf behind the 

 shoulder. Death speedily supervenes, and all the tissues are 

 infiltrated with a serosity, which in its turn becomes virulent. 

 This also can be collected and preserved in a state of purity." 

 It remained to be seen whether virus thus preserved would 

 become so attenuated as to lose all degree of virulence. 



Aubenas, then, wished to follow the example of Melun. In 

 deference to the unanimous wish of the inhabitants of the 

 little town, Pasteur went there on the 4th of May. His arrival 

 was a veritable triumph ; there were decorations at the station, 

 floral arches in the streets, brass and other bands, speeches 

 from the Mayor, presentation of the Municipal Council, of 

 the Chamber of Commerce, etc., etc. Excitement reigned 

 everywhere, and the music of the bands was almost drowned 

 by the acclamations of the people. At the meeting of the 

 Agricultural Society, Pasteur was offered a medal with his 

 own effigy, and a work of art representing genii around a cup, 

 their hands full of cocoons. A little microscope— that micro- 

 scope which had been called an impracticable instrument, fit 

 for scientists only— figured as an attribute. 



'For us all," said the President of the Aubenas Spinning 

 Syndicate, "you have been the kindly magician whose inter- 

 vention conjured away the scourge which threatened us; in 

 you we hail our benefactor." 



Pasteur, effacing his own personality as he had done at the 

 Academie, laid all this enthusiasm and gratitude as an offering 

 to Science. 



"I am not its object, but rather a pretext for it," he said, 

 and continued : ' Science has been the ruling passion of my • 

 life. I have lived but for Science, and in the hours of difficulty 



