44 PASTEUR 



confidence, although the master chemists whom 

 he had told of his intent believed that he could 

 not succeed. He was destined to triumph ; the 

 magician was about to vanquish nature. In 

 June, 1853, he announced to his father and to 

 Biot that he had artificially obtained racemic 

 acid. It was a splendid victory, which amazed 

 all scientists versed in the study of crystals and 

 of chemistry. The Academy of Sciences gave 

 prolonged attention to this discovery, and the 

 Society of Chemistry bestowed upon its author 

 a prize of fifteen hundred francs, which it had 

 offered to anyone who should produce this ex- 

 traordinary acid. With his usual disinterested- 

 ness, Pasteur spent half of this sum in the pur- 

 chase of such instruments as were lacking in 

 the Strasburg laboratory. The government 

 took notice of the achievements of the young 

 scientist that were so magnificently crowned by 

 a success which his own masters had not ex- 

 pected, and Louis Pasteur received the cross of 

 the Legion of Honour when he was barely 

 thirty years of age. 



