A LABORIOUS YOUTH 37 



that the most vivid light had been thrown 

 upon the cause of the phenomenon of rotary 

 polarisation and on the hemihedrism of crys- 

 tals; that a new class of isomeric substances 

 had been discovered; that the unexpected and 

 hitherto unexampled formation of racemic or 

 paratartaric acid had been unveiled ; in a word, 

 that a great path, new and unforeseen, had 

 been opened to science/ " (La Vie de Pasteur.) 

 The encouragements of his masters, Balard 

 and Biot, their praises, and the certainty that 

 he would not be obliged to interrupt .the se- 

 quence of his discoveries kept him in a state 

 of feverish activity. But at the end of 1848 he 

 was obliged to leave the laboratory, in spite of 

 the intervention of his protectors, and betake 

 himself to the Lycee at Dijon, to which he had 

 been appointed professor of physics. It was 

 not without regret that he abandoned his ex- 

 perimental courses and his researches, for he 

 felt that his personal labours were of more use 

 to science than any instruction that he might 

 give. Nevertheless, he submitted to the order 



