204 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 



in a marked degree. Building operations commenced 

 this year, but the move did not take place till near the 

 end of the next. The summer months were once more 

 spent in Switzerland, first at Monte Generoso, and then 

 at Maloja, the benefit derived being extraordinary. 

 Walks of eighteen miles, and climbs of a thousand feet 

 or two could be accomplished, after a time, without 

 undue strain. 



A meeting called by the Lord Mayor of London for 

 July I, with the object of securing support for the 

 Pasteur Institute, was the occasion of an eloquent letter 

 sent by Huxley to represent his opinions in the matter 

 (Nature, July 4, 1889). 



" Monte Generoso, Switzerland, 

 "/one 25, 1889. 



" My Lord Mayor, — I greatly regret my inability to be 

 present at the meeting which is to be held, under your Lord- 

 ship's auspices, in reference to M. Pasteur and his Institute. 

 The unremitting labours of that eminent Frenchman during the 

 last half-century have yielded rich harvests of new truths, and 

 are models of exact and refined research. As such they deserve, 

 and have received, ell the honours which those who are the best 

 judges of their purely scientific merits are able to bestow. But 

 it so happens that these subtle and patient searchings out of the 

 ways of the infinitely little — of the swarming life where the 

 creature that measures one-thousandth part of an inch is a giant 

 — have also yielded results of supreme practical importance. 

 The path of M. Pasteur's investigations is strewed with gifts of 

 vast monetary value to the silk trades, the brewer, and the wine 

 merchant. And this being so, it might well be a proper and 

 graceful act on the part of the representatives of trade and com- 

 merce in its greatest centre to make some public recognition of 

 M. Pasteur's services, even if there were nothing further to be 

 said about them. But there is much more to be said. M. 

 Pasteur's direct and indirect contributions to our knowledge of 

 the causes of diseased states, and of the means of preventing 



