LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 233 



The very next day he felt well enough to return 

 to his work. 



When urged to settle down in Paris in order to 

 avoid the fatigue of the journey, he replied that the 

 peace and pure air of Sevres were indispensable to 

 his health, that the journey did not fatigue him in 

 the least, but on the contrary provided him with 

 wholesome exercise and a pleasant walk. Knowing 

 how prudent he was, I did not dare to insist for fear 

 of mistaking what was really best for him. And life 

 gradually resumed its normal course. . . . 



For a long time Metchnikofi had been observing 

 himself very attentively ; he took regular notes on 

 the influence of the food diet which he followed ; by 

 the analysis of his urine, he sought for indications 

 respecting the toxic products of his intestinal flora ; 

 he studied upon himself the advance of senility, 

 whitening of hair, etc. 



Since his crisis he had adopted the habit of writing 

 occasional notes on his psychical state. This is what 

 he wrote on the 23rd December 1913 at Sevres : 



Two months and more have passed since I wrote the pre- 

 ceding lines. During that period my health has been satis- 

 factory ; nevertheless I have wondered every day whether it 

 would be my last. 



I am therefore hastening to write my memoir on infantile 

 cholera. 



The cardiac intermittence has been more or less frequent, 

 yet every day I have had periods of regular pulsations (58-66-72 

 per minute) as usual. 



The day before yesterday I contracted a bad cold, 

 accompanied by a little fever. Wondering if it would de- 

 generate into pneumonia, I faced anew the possibility of a 

 near end, and I resumed the analysis of my thoughts, feelings, 

 and sensations. 



