174 PASTEUR 



upon our illustrious colleague, and is destined 

 to redound greatly to the honour of our coun- 

 try." 



It was Pasteur's destiny never to triumph 

 through any of his discoveries until after he 

 had overcome desperate resistance. The value 

 of his method was questioned by a large part 

 of the profession, he was ridiculed, and the 

 comic papers published caricatures upon his 

 work. 



Pasteur's enemies, who had not even yet dis- 

 armed in the presence of his genius, renewed 

 their attacks in connection with a failure which 

 occurred in December, 1885, the death of a 

 young girl, Louise Lepelletier, who had been 

 inoculated thirty-seven days after she was bit- 

 ten. Nevertheless, all resistance and all per- 

 fidy disappeared beneath the immense flood of 

 enthusiasm which had been aroused by Pas- 

 teur's discoveries. A public system of vaccina- 

 tion against hydrophobia was installed, and 

 people flocked there from all parts of France 

 and from every other country. Within one year 



