THE CURATIVE POISON 119 



germs, he recommended to the operating sur- 

 geons a method of antiseptic dressing, based 

 upon his discovery of microbes in the air. The 

 great English surgeon, Lister, employed a sim- 

 ilar method, and obtained excellent results. 

 The French physicians who accepted Pasteur's 

 method saw the percentage of deaths resulting 

 from operations fall off with great rapidity. It 

 was not adopted without opposition, but its 

 efficacy was soon recognised ; and to-day there is 

 no surgeon who does not follow out all of Pas- 

 teur's careful injunctions, the heating of instru- 

 ments, the sterilisation of dressings, antiseptic 

 washing of the wound, etc. 



It was in 1876 that science escaped a real 

 danger. Pasteur, yielding to the solicitations 

 of a number of electors, presented himself as 

 candidate at the election of senators from the 

 Jura. He made his electoral campaign with the 

 same seriousness that he displayed in his labor- 

 atory, proclaiming in his sign bills and circu- 

 lars that his only reason for wishing to be 

 elected was that he might have further oppor- 





