HOW TO PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY 415 



fifteen years later one out of all his fellows and prede- 

 cessors is recognized as the incomparable teacher and 

 discoverer the inspirer of others, the one great man of 

 half a century. He must be chosen by his colleagues, 

 his fellow-workers, not by political wire-pullers nor by 

 any variety of social " Bumble." He is given labora- 

 tories and assistants, and men come to consult him, to 

 sit under him, work for him, from all parts of the world. 

 Louis Pasteur was such a man. Huxley pointed out by 

 what a vast public expenditure Pasteur was gradually 

 sifted out from his fellows, and made professor in the 

 Normal School of Paris. Of course, a good many 

 inferior people got a share of the training provided, 

 and did some unimportant things ; but if we put them 

 aside it is perfectly true (as a calculation of the expenses 

 of the whole network of State-supported schools and 

 colleges and bursaries through which he passed will show) 

 that the capture or discovery of Pasteur cost the French 

 nation about 25,000,000. He was worth it, not only 

 to France, but to every other nationality and more, too, 

 more than can be measured by gold. His name, 

 honoured throughout the world on account of the 

 splendid discoveries associated with it, gave self-respect, 

 courage, and healthy pride to France at a time when 

 she had cruelly suffered. Ten years ago the most 

 popular newspaper in France took a " plebiscite " to 

 determine who, in the general estimation of the French 

 people, was the greatest Frenchman of the nineteenth 

 century the century which included the first Napoleon, 

 Victor Hugo, Gambetta. The vote was given by some 

 millions, and resulted in a majority for Louis Pasteur. 

 Would Englishmen have shown such discernment? 

 Such a man is absolutely necessary as the head of any 

 great institute which exists for the purpose of scientific 

 discovery. Such men, smaller it may be, but of the same 



