August 2, 1877] 



NA TURE 



277 



in order to perform my experiments before the Commission 

 which has been nominated by the Academy. 



I should, moreover, feel much obliged if you will have the 

 goodness to inform me exactly what steps the Commission pro- 

 poses to take, and how the precise terms for formulating the 

 question of fact which is to be submitted to their consideration 

 are to be settled. It appears to me that these terms ought, in 

 the first place, to be agreed upon between M. Pasteur and 

 myself. Faithfully yours, 



II. Charlton Bastian 



Monsieur Dumas, le Secretaire perpetuel, 

 Academie des Sciences 



No reply to this letter was received, though a translation of it 

 was published shortly afterwards in the Comptes Reiidus. The 

 first letter which subsequently came to hand on this subject was 

 the following : — 



Acadhnie cits Sciences, Paris, le 5 mai, 1877 



Monsieur, — Je crains que la lettre que j'ai eu Thonneur de 

 vous adresser il y a trois semaines ne vous soit pas parvenue, et 

 je prends la liberte de vous faire savoir de nouveau que la Com- 

 mission chargee par I'Academie des Sciences de prendre con- 

 naissance de vos experiences est preie a vous recevoir. Ella a 

 deja demande a M. Pasteur d'operer sous ses yeux. 



Puisque vous avez accepte de venir .i Paris, tout est prepare 

 pour vous recevoir et des vutre arrivee, si vous voulez bien m'en 

 informer, le laboratoire de I'Ecole Normale, ou tout autre, seront 

 mis a votre disposition. 



Agreez, Monsieur, I'assurance des mes sentiments les plus 

 distingues, J. B. DuMAS 



Paris, rue St. Dominique, 69 



20, Queen Anne Street, IV., London, May S, 1877 



Dear Sir, — On February 27 I had the honour of informing 

 you that I was willing to come to Paris to perform some experi- 

 ments before the Commission appointed by the Academy, if a 

 convenient time could be arranged. I asked also to be informed 

 as to the steps the Commission proposed to take, and how the 

 precise question submitted to them for report was to be agreed 

 upon. 



I anxiously awaited a reply to this letter for some time, but 

 none came. 



This morning I had the honour of receiving a letter from you, 

 bearing the date of May 5, which was reposted to me from a 

 wrong address, viz., 81, Avenue Road, Regent's Park. Therein 

 you state that you had written to me three weeks previously. I 

 shall be glad if you will be good enough to inform me to what 

 address this first letter was sent, as it has not yet come to hand ; 

 and I find, on inquiry, that it has not been delivered at 81, 

 Avenue Road, wheie I resided two years ago. On receipt of 

 this information I will make further inquiries at the General 

 Post Office. 



The letters which I have had the honour of addressing to you 

 concerning my communications to the Academy have always 

 borne the address which stands at the head of this sheet. 



Three weeks ago, if the arrangements made by the Commis- 

 sion had been satisfactory, I could have gone to Paris without 

 much inconvenience ; now, however, my engagements, both 

 public and private, will not permit me to leave London, and I 

 fear it may be impossible for me to go to Palis till about the 

 third week in July, when our medical session will terminate. 



Meanwhile I trust to be able to recover your first letter, and 

 I hope to be fully informed, not only as to the precise question 

 on which the Commission is to report, but as to the mode in 

 which the Commission will conduct the inquiry. I am still 

 anxious, in fact, to receive that information for which I asked 

 in my letter of February 27. 



Believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours. 



Monsieur Dumas H. Charlton Bastian 



18 mai, 1877, Paris 

 Monsieur, — Je me suis empressc de vous faire un duplicata 

 de la lettre que j'avais eu I'honneur de vous adresser au nom de 

 la Commission de I'Academie des Sciences, des qu'elle avail etc 

 delivree des soins de la seance publique tenue le 23 avril, et qui 

 ne vous etait pas parvenue. 



J'ai vu M. Pasteur. II se tient a votre disposition pour le 

 15 juillet, epoque a laquelle vous seriez libre de venir a Paris. 



M. Lockjer, qui a passe quelque jours ici, s'est charge de vous 

 dire combien nous desirous voir avec vous vos experiences et avec 

 quelle entiere liberie d'esprit elles seront appteciees. 



Agreez, Monsieur, i'assurance de ma consideration la plus 

 distinguee, J. B . Dumas 



rue St. Dominique, 69 



Academie des Sciences, Paris, le 25 avril, 1877 

 Duplicata. — Le Secretaire perpetuel de I'Academie a Monsieur 

 le Docteur Charlton Bastian, 20, Queen Anne Street, a Londres 



Monsieur, — La Commi-ssion nommee par I'Academie des 

 Sciences pour examiner le dissentiment qui s'est eleve entre M. 

 Pasteur et vous a consacie plusieurs seances a suivre les expe- 

 riences de M. Pasteur. EUe est done en mesure de s'occuper 

 des votres. 



Puisque vous avez offert de venir les repeter devant elle a 

 Paris, elle se met a votre disposition, et elle vous offre le 

 laboratoire qu'il vous plaira de designer pour les accompUr. 

 Vous choisirez vous-meme, apres les avoir visiles, celui qui vous 

 conviendra le mieux. M. Pasteur vous prie de considerer le 

 sien comme tout a vos ordres. 



La Commission, avant d'engager tout examen de la question, 

 a pense qu'il convenait d'abord de voir les experiences memes, 

 rc-alisees en liberte par leurs auteurs. S'il y a lieu d'ouvrir plus 

 tard entre elles une comparaison contradictoire, elle en deter- 

 minera les conditions, en vue de donner, a son opinion, une base 

 certaine. 



Le premier element de I'enquete a laquelle vous avez souscrit, 

 M. Pasteur et vous, devait consister, en effet, a donner a chacun 

 de vous I'occasion de produire les faits sur lesquels vos opinions 

 resjjectives se fondent. 



Agreez, Monsieur, I'assurance de mes sentiments les plus 

 distingues. J. B. Dumas 



20, Queen Anne Street, IV., lilay 24, 1877 

 Dear Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of 

 the duplicate of the missing letter, bearing date April 25, and 

 also your note of May 18, the assurances in which were very 

 gratifying to me. 



\'our official letter of April 25 contains some information 

 in regard to the conduct of the inquiry by the Commission, 

 which I have been for some time desirous of obtaining. In 

 respect to these proposed proceedings I may perhaps now be 

 permitted to make some observations, in order, as far as possible, 

 to avoid the chance of any misunderstanding between M. Pasteur 

 and myself and the Commission, during the progress of the 

 inquiry. 



1 am anxious, in fact, to define (i) what I understand to be 

 the object of the Commission, and (2) to explain to what extent 

 I am prepared to submit to its judgment. I desire to do this in 

 order that I may have the honour of learning from you whether 

 I am correct in this understanding, and whether my submission 

 to the extent to be specified is all that the Commission will 

 expect from me. 



I. I gather from the Comptes Rendus of February ig, that the 

 Commission has been appointed that it may "express an opinion 

 upon the fact " under discussion between M. Pasteur and 

 myself; and the fact in question seems to me to be this : — 

 Whether preziotislv boiled urine, protected frojn contamination, can 

 or cannot be made to ferment a7id swarm with certain or nanisms by 

 the addition of some quantity of hquor potasses which has been heated 

 to 110° C.,for t-wenty minutes at least. M. Pasteur asserts that 

 he has not seen fermentation occur under these conditions, whilst 

 I assert that I have ; so that the point of principal importance 

 would seem to be to ascertain whether such positive results can 

 be reproduced before the Commission. I learn, therefore, with 

 much satisfaction, that the Commission will allow to each of us 

 the opportunity of reproducing before it the facts upon which we 

 found our respective opinions. This, indeed, I regard as an 

 essential condition of the inquiry. 



2 If the Commission proposes to limit itself to reporting upon 

 this mere question of fact I will freely submit to its decision. If, 

 however, it does not propose thus to restrict itself, and is empowered 

 to express an opinion upon the interpretation of the fact attested, 

 and on its bearings upon the "Germ Theory of Fermentation," 

 or " Spontaneous Generation," then I must respectfully decline 

 to take } art in this wider inquiry. 



I leel compelled to adopt this decided position because my 

 stay in Paris must be limited to three or four days ; and if any 

 other questions beyond that above specified were subsequently 

 raised by the Commission demanding the performance ol some 

 new experiments, either by M. Pasteur or myself or by both of 

 us, the inquiry, instead of being limited to a few days, might be 

 prolonged indefinitely. 



