46 PASTEUR 



he had observed that the tartrates undergo veri- 

 table fermentations, and he believed that these 

 fermentations might be due to a microscopic 

 organism which played the role of a ferment; 

 so that, setting forth from crystalography, he 

 finally arrived at researches into the origin of 

 life. 



Having been appointed Professor of Chemis- 

 try and Dean of the Faculty recently founded 

 at Lille in 1854, Pasteur, while faithfully ful- 

 filling his pedagogical duties, prepared to carry 

 on his studies of fermentations. He spared no 

 pains to prove himself worthy of the confidence 

 placed in him by M. Fortoul, the Minister of 

 Public Instruction, and he succeeded in raising 

 the new Faculty entrusted to him to the first 

 rank of scientific establishments. More than 

 two hundred auditors attended his courses, and 

 twenty-one students were enrolled for practi- 

 cal work in the laboratory. He exerted himself 

 to carry out the programme of the Minister, 

 whose desire was to train operators and practi- 

 cal workers in the higher manufacturing indus- 



