ON THE ROAD TO FAME 47 



tries, but he never ceased to repeat that nothing 

 counted apart from theory, and that theory 

 alone could be productive of great results. At 

 the same time Pasteur initiated his students 

 into industrial methods by taking them to visit 

 the manufacturers of the neighbourhood, where 

 they were able to judge at first hand which 

 were the best of the methods employed. Fur- 

 thermore, the General Council of the North 

 recognised the practical value of his knowledge 

 and his teaching by entrusting him with the 

 examination of the fertilisers essential to 

 culture. 



The problem of fermentations which Pasteu 

 was preparing to solve victoriously was even 

 more obscure than those offered by crystalog- 

 raphy. How did the heavy dough, formed of 

 flour mixed with water, become the light and 

 substantial bread; how was the crushed grape 

 transformed into wine? Undoubtedly these 

 questions had occupied the attention of man 

 ever since the most remote antiquity, and many 



