February 7, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



187 



1857 he returned to Paris as scientific direc- 

 tor of the Ecole Normale, where he had 

 gained his first scientific laurels. In 1862 

 Pasteur became a member of the Institute 

 and in the same year he was appointed 

 Professor of Geology, Physics and Chemistry 

 in the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He was elected 

 to the Academy of Sciences, taking the 

 fauteuil of Littre in 1881. The same year 

 he received the Grand Cross of the Legion 

 of Honor. In 1874 the National Assembly 

 of France voted him a life pension of 20,- 

 000 francs annually. Upon the anniversary 

 of his 70th birthday, December 27, 1892, 

 he received from his compatriots a superb 

 ovation at the Sorbonne, which was at- 

 tended by President Carnot, the members 

 of the French Institute, all foreign minis- 

 ters and ambassadors then at the French 

 capital, and delegates from scientific socie- 

 ties in all parts of the world. The Pas- 

 teur Institute, established in his honor, was 

 inaugurated with proper ceremonies on the 

 14th of November, 1888. It is situated in 

 the rue Dutot, Paris, and is an imposing 

 stone building in the style of Louis XIII. 

 It was built and equipped from a fund 

 raised by public subscription amounting to 

 2,586,000 francs. Of this sum 200,000 

 francs was voted by the French Chambres 

 Legislaiif. After the completion and equip- 

 ment of the building more than 1,000,000 

 francs remained as a permanent endowment. 

 The time at my disposal will permit of but a 

 brief review of Pasteur's scientific achive- 

 ments. After having made some notable dis- 

 coveries in chemistry his attention was at- 

 tracted to the minute organisms found in fer- 

 menting liquids, and by a brilliant series of 

 experiments he demonstrated the fact that 

 the chemical changes attending fermentation 

 are due to the microscopic plants known as 

 bacteria; also that different species give 

 rise to different kinds of fermentation, as 

 shown by the different products evolved 

 during the process. In prosecuting these 



studies he discovered the species which pro- 

 duce lactic acid, acetic acid and butyric 

 acid, and he added largely to our knowledge 

 relating to alcoholic fermentation and the 

 class of microorganisms to which it is due. 

 He showed that in the absence of living 

 organisms no putrefaction or fermentation 

 can occur in organic liquids, and that these 

 low organisms do not develop by spon- 

 taneous generation, as was at that time 

 generally believed, but have their origin 

 from preexisting cells of the same species, 

 which are widely distributed in the atmos- 

 phere, especially near the surface of the 

 earth. Various experimenters had shown 

 that a development of bacteria sometimes 

 occurs in boiled organic liquids excluded 

 from the air. Pasteur showed that this 

 was not due to spontaneous generation, but 

 to the survival of the spores of certain 

 species of bacteria ; these are able to resist 

 a boUing temperature without loss of vitality 

 and reproductive power. 



In 1865 the distinguished French chemist, 

 Dumas, invited his former pupil, Pasteur, to 

 make investigations with reference to the 

 cause and prevention of a fatal malady 

 among silkworms, which threatened to de- 

 stroy the silk industry of France. In the 

 course of an investigation which occupied 

 several years, Pasteur succeeded in demon- 

 strating the nature of the infectious malady 

 known as pebrine, the mode of its transmis- 

 sion, and the measures necessary to eradi- 

 cate it. Following his advice the growers 

 of silkworms succeeded in banishing the 

 scourge, and within a few years the industry 

 was reestablished upon its former profitable 

 footing. 



This pioneer work led to further investi- 

 gations with reference to the cause and pre- 

 vention of certain infectious diseases of the 

 lower animals, and especially to the fatal 

 disease of cattle and sheep known as an- 

 thrax. Having satisfied himself that this 

 disease is due to a bacillus, which is found 



