108 PASTEUR 



tween several paths. Should he continue to de- 

 vote himself to silk-worms, or commence some 

 new researches? Chance and the desire to do 

 away with French consumption of an almost 

 exclusive product of German industry turned 

 his attention to the study of beer. Why should 

 we not make good beer in France? Pasteur 

 asked himself, and he straightway set to work 

 to find an answer to his own question. There 

 was a small brewery at Chamelieres, near Cler- 

 mont, and it was there, at the home of the pro- 

 prietor, M. Kulm, that he conducted his first 

 experiments, afterwards verified in Duclaux's 

 laboratory, in the Faculty of Sciences. The mi- 

 croscopic examination of malts, yeasts and 

 beers soon convinced him that the latter ac- 

 quired a bad taste through diseases analogous 

 to those of wines, and due to certain microbes. 

 In brewing, just as in all industries where fer- 

 mentation plays the principal role, the manu- 

 facture was purely empirical, without method 

 or science, and the results, whether good or 

 bad, were often due to pure chance, Pasteur 



