LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 69 



entered upon a successful phase ; his friends nick- 

 named him " the star." As soon as he was made a 

 magister, he received his appointment at the Odessa 

 University, and, the holidays drawing near, he was at 

 last able to return to his home. Needless to say how 

 joyfully and lovingly he was received by his family. 

 He spent two months with them, utilising his leisure in 

 preparing himself to teach. 



In his hurry to arrive in Odessa in good time in 

 order to take his bearings before starting his lectures, 

 he went there much too soon and found nobody at 

 the University ; he then decided to go to the Crimea 

 for some preliminary studies on the fauna of the Black 

 Sea. Before long, he made the acquaintance of the 

 celebrated botanist Cienkovsky, who invited him to 

 stay in his viUa. Though the scientist was already 

 46 years old and Elie only 22, they soon became fast 

 friends. Cienkovsky was a man of great European 

 culttire ; passionately fond of science as he was, his 

 critical mind submitted everything to a close analysis. 

 He took great interest in yoimg MetchnikofE and 

 showed him a marked predilection, but that did not 

 prevent him from criticising him severely. He re- 

 proached him with a lack of self-control, and undertook 

 the paternal task of civilising the impulsive, fiery, 

 sometimes even violent young man. He preached 

 to him tolerance towards the opinions of others, a 

 strict self-discipline, and the absolute necessity of 

 bowing to certain social conventions against which 

 Elie blindly rebelled. Cienkovsky acquired great 

 prestige in his young friend's eyes ; years later, even, 

 MetchnikofE took pleasure in quoting his axioms and 

 in trying to conform with them. 



He worked with ardour during his stay in the 



