PASTEUR. 783 



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 seventieth birthday, Decem- 

 ber 27, 1892, he received from his compatriots a superb ovation at the 

 Sorbonne, which was attended by President Carnot, the members of 

 the French Institute, all foreign ministers and ambassadors then at the 

 French capital, and delegates from scientific societies in all parts of 

 the world. The Pasteur Institute, established in his honor, was inau- 

 gurated 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 Legislatif. After 

 the completion and equipment 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 achievements. After having made some notable discove- 

 ries in chemistry his attention was attracted to the minute organisms 

 found in fermenting liquids, and by a brilliant series of experiments he 

 demonstrated the fact that the chemical changes attending fermenta- 

 tion are due to the microscopic plants known as bacteria; also that dif- 

 ferent 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 produce lactic acid, acetic acid, 

 and butyric acid, and he added largely to our knowledge relating to 

 alcoholic fermentation and the class of micro-organisms 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 organ- 

 isms do not develop by spontaneous 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 atmosphere, especi- 

 ally 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 spon- 

 taneous generation, but to the survival of the spores of certain species 

 of bacteria. These are able to resist a boiling temperature without loss 

 of vitality and reproductive power. 



In 1865 the distinguished French chemist Dumas iuvited his former 

 pupil, Pasteur, to make investigations with reference to the cause and 

 prevention of a fatal malady among silkworms, which threatened to 

 destroy the silk industry of France. In the course of an investigation 

 which occupied several years, Pasteur succeeded in demonstrating the 

 nature of the infectious malady known as pebrine,the mode of its trans- 

 mission, and the measures necessary to eradicate 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. 



