278 



NA TURE 



[Atigusl 2, 1877 



I desire, therefore, to obtain tlie assurance of the Commission 



that no new experiments shall be demanded from either of us, except 

 with the full concurrence of both M. Pasteur and myself. Under 

 these circumstances I iviU undertake, so far as it lies in my power, 

 10 be in Paris by tlie 14th of next July, in order to place myself 

 at the disposal of the Commission. 



Believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours, 

 Monsieur Dumas H. Charlton Bastian 



20, Quf.n Anne Street, IV., Jttne2\, 1877. 

 Dkar Sik, — One montli ago (May 24) I had the honour of 

 writing to you to ask for some official information as to the 

 precise scope of the inquiry to be made by the Commission 

 appointed by the Academy of Sciences, before whom I have 

 been invited to appear. To this letter I have as yet received 

 no reply, so that I do not even know whether it has been 

 received. 



I have made arrangements which will enable me to go to 

 Paris and perform my experiments before the Commission at 

 the time named in your letter of May 18, namely, about July 15, 

 but naturally btfore taking part in any arbitration I desire to 

 receive sunne official intimation as to the exact terms and scope 

 of the question which has been submitted to the arbitrators. I 

 know not whether the few lines which I saw in the Coinptes 

 Rendiis of February 19 announcing the nomination of the Com- 

 mission, contain also the only Instructions which have been 

 given to it, or whether any other and fuller instructions exist. 

 No information has been communicated to me and I am, unfor- 

 tunately, not acquainted with the custom of the Academy in 

 regard to commissions of this kind. 



Craving the favour of an early reply, 



Believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours. 

 Monsieur Dumas II. Charlton Bastian 



Monsieur, — II est parfaitement entendu que la Commission 

 de I'Academie des Sciences sera le 15 juiUet a voire disposition. 



II eat cgalement qu'elle desire, si c'est possible, n'avoir a 

 s'occuper que de I'experience de M. Pasteur et de la votre, au 

 sujet de I'urine traitee par la potasse. 



Vous n'avez done aucun motif de craindre qu'elle ait besoin 

 de vous demander un sejour prolonge. 



VeuUlez agreez. Monsieur, I'assurance de ma consideration la 

 plus distinguee. J. B. Dumas 



r. St. Dominique, 69 



20, Queen Anne Street, W., July 6, 1877 



Dear Sir, — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of a letter Irom 

 you which came to hand on June 29. 



I do not find in it any distinct acceptance of the conditions 

 mentioned in my letter of May 24, as those upon which alone I 

 should be prepared to repeat my experiments before the Com- 

 mission, viz., (i) the limitation of the report to the question of 

 fact mentioned, (2) the assurance that no new experiments shall 

 be demanded Irom either of us except with the lull concurrence 

 o both M. Pasteur and myself. 



I might infer from your silence that no objection is raised to 

 these restrictions, but before leaving for Paris I must receive 

 your definite assurance that this is so. 



Not being thoroughly proficient in the French language I 

 presume the Commission will permit me to avail myself ot the 

 services of some French friend as an interpreter. I also trust 

 that the Commission will provide for the taking of shorthand 

 notes of any discussion during the progress of the investigation 

 of which the Commission, M. Pasteur, or myselt may desire to 

 have a record. 



On the receipt of a favourable reply you may expect me to be 

 in Paris on Saturday morning, the 14th inst., otherwise I shall 

 be most reluctantly compelled to decline to participate in the 

 inquiry. Believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours. 



Monsieur Dumas II. Charlton Bastian 



Paris, 12 juillet, 1877 



MoNSlEtJR, — La Commission de I'Academie des Sciences sera 

 des le 15 a votre disposition. 



EUe est prcte a vous entendre ; mais elle desire, comme vous, 

 gue son examen soit borjie au point en discussion entre vous et M. 

 Pasteur. Ce serait seulement au cas oil vous desirerjez alter 

 plus loin qu'elle aurait a examiner si le temps lui permet d'entre- 

 prendre davantage, votre sejour ctant tres court. 



M. Edwards, menibre de la Commission, psrle tres bien 

 I'anglais. 



Des vutre arrivee vous auriez la bonte de m'en informer, rue 

 St, Dominique, 6g. 



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

 distinguee. J. B. Dumas 



Having received this acceptance of the limitations which I 

 had specified, I left London for Paris on July 13. 



On the afternoon of July 15, I met the Commission by 

 arrangement at the laboratory of M. Pasteur, at the Ecole 

 Normale Superieure. The Commission was represented by 

 MM. Dumas and Milne Edwards, M. Boussingault having 

 been compelled to withdraw on account of a recent domestic 

 aflliction. 



The fiist stage of our discussion was the announcement to me 

 by M. Milne Edwards of his objection to the second condition 

 mentioned in my letter of July 6, and of his determination to 

 take no part in the inquiry if I still adhered to this condition. 

 M. Dumas' letter of July 12, in the name of the Commission, 

 and on the faith of which I had come to Paris, was thus at once 

 set aside. 



i\I. Milne Edwards contended that he could not take part in 

 any Academy Commission which had not full power to vary the 

 experiments at discretion ; whilst I, on the other hand, contended 

 that my stay in Paris must, as I had said from the first, be 

 limited to a few days, and tliat I could not see my way, therefore, 

 to consent to the initiation of new experimental conditions. I 

 further urged that the Commission had been appointed to report 

 upon a simiile question of fact, that M. Pasteur had challenged 

 me to obtain certain results, before " competent judges, "that I had 

 come to Paris to repeat certain well-defined experiments before 

 them, and that they were commissioned to express an opinion 

 thereon and on the experiments of M. Pasteur to the Academy 

 of Sciences. 



A very long discussion ensued, but no satisfactory conclusion 

 was arrived at. In the evening I wrote the following note to 

 M. Dumas ; — 



Grand Hotel St. James, Paris, July 15, 1877 

 Dear Monsieur Dumas, — After our conference this after- 

 noon I had a long conversation with M. Pasteur, and am going to 

 his laboratory early to-morrow morning, to sliow him the mode in 

 which I make my experiments. I shall thus be enabled to learn 

 what precise alterations he would desire in order that the 

 experiments may be conducted in a manner satisfactory to 

 himself. 



Afterwards I trust it may be more possible for me to meet the 

 wishes of the Commission in regard to the inquiry, and I hope 

 you will tlierefore be able to make it convenient to see me for a 

 few minutes at your own house to-morrow at 1.30 p.m. 



If you are able to do this, pray do not take the trouble to 

 answer this note. Should it not be convenient to you, perhaps 

 you will kindly send a few words to me to the care of Professor 

 Wiirtz, upon whom I am to call about noon. 



, Believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours, 



A Monsieur Dumas H. Charlton Bastian 



At my interview with M. Dumas on Monday, July 16, I 

 proposed a kind of compromise. The proposition was that on 

 the present occasion we should have " the first element " of the 

 inquiry as defined by M. Dumas in his letter of April 25 ; viz., 

 that the opportunity should be given to M. Pasteur and myself of 

 repeating (without variation) the actual experiments upon which 

 we based our respective opinions ; that I should then return to 

 London, and after the Commission had expressed its opinion to 

 M. Pasteur and to myself as to any variations in the experimental 

 conditions which they might desire to Institute, that I should 

 return to Paris to witness and to perform such modified experi- 

 ments. 



The names of MM. Fremy, Trccul, Robin, and Wiirtz had 

 been mentioned as persons one or other of whom I should like 

 .to see placed on the Commission in succession to M. Boussingault. 

 But at the meeting of the Academy that afternoon it was 

 announced that M. van Tieghem hnd been nominated to succeed 

 M. Boussingault. This gentleman being a former pupil and 

 present colleague of M. Pasteur, the Commission was left with- 

 out a single member who could be considered as representing 

 my views, or even as holding a neutral position between me and 

 my scientific opponent. 



The next day I received the following note from M. van 

 Tieghem : — 



Paris, l"] juillet, 1877 



Monsieur le Docteur, — La Commission de I'Academie se 

 reunira detnain, mereredi, a huit heures du matin au laboratoire de 

 M. Pasteur a I'Ecole Normale. Je viens, en son nom, vous prier 



