A LABORIOUS YOUTH 31 



several months. His mother died suddenly, in 

 May, 1848, and it is easy to conceive how keen 

 his grief was, since we know what a profound 

 affection he cherished for his family, which, 

 equally with science, held first place in his 

 thoughts. For long weeks he found himself in- 

 capable of accomplishing any work, yet never- 

 theless he continued the course of his studies, 

 so keen was his passion for scientific research. 

 Meanwhile his communications to the Acad- 

 emy of Science had attracted the attention of 

 the learned world to his work. Its full value 

 and originality were recognised and the highest 

 expectations were held regarding his further 

 researches. Pasteur, who in a vague way was 

 already conscious of his genius, regarded them 

 as no more than a schoolboy's clever essays, but 

 in his study of the tartrates and paratartrates 

 he was destined to distinguish himself in a mar- 

 vellous manner. Without entering into a 

 minute explanation of these questions, it should 

 be understood that Mitscherlich, who had made 

 some remarkable experiments with crystals, had 



