110 LOUIS PASTEUE. 



his bulbs in the Jura and on the Mer de Glace, they, 

 on their part, had been on the top of the Maladetta, 

 and had proved there the inexactitude of Pasteur's 

 results. 



Pasteur asked to be judged by the Academy. 

 'A commission alone,' said he, 'will terminate the 

 debate.' The commission was named, and the position 

 on both sides was clearly stated. 



' I affirm,' said Pasteur, ' that everywhere it is 

 possible to take from the midst of the atmosphere a 

 certain quantity of air which contains neither egg 

 nor spore, and which does not produce organisms in 

 putrescible solutions.' 



On his side, M. Joly wrote : ' If one alone of your 

 bulbs remains unaltered we shall loyally acknowledge 

 our defeat.' Lastly, M. Pouch et, as distinct and 

 positive as M. Pasteur, said : * I affirm that in what- 

 ever place I take a cubic decimeter of air, when this 

 air is placed in contact with a fermentable liquid en- 

 closed in a glass vessel hermetically sealed, the liquid 

 will become filled with living organisms.' 



This double declaration, which excited at that time 

 all the learned world, took place in the month of 

 January, 1864. Eager to engage in the combat, 

 Pasteur waited impatiently for the order of the Com- 

 mission that this experiment, which was to decide 

 everything, should be made. But M. Pouchet begged 

 for a postponement, desiring, he said, to wait for the 



