Page 10 - Ethel D. Hume - Bešam ili Paster: Izgubljeno poglavlje u istoriji biologije

FOREWORD

The progress of natural science, like all other depart-
ments of knowledge, is associated with the personalities of
its workers, and it often happens that the study of a man's
life is the surest guide not only to the history of the science,
but also to the discovery of neglected records made in days
gone by. It is always a matter of absorbing interest to
know how and by whom the foundations of natural truth,
upon which we build our own more modern structures,
were laid. We have long been accustomed to build on
stones placed in position by the world-famed Pasteur, but
it is not commonly recognized that many of these stones
rest upon the deeper foundations laid by Pasteur's con-
temporary, Antoine Bechamp. It is fitting that one should
hesitate to disturb stones set by those already gone from
us, but when a substructure has once been revealed, there
can be no question as to the liberty of extending the in-
vestigation. Probably no reader of this book will at first be
prepared to accept much that is said in criticism ofPasteur
and in worship of Bechamp, but as the perusal proceeds,
his eyes will be opened to many references for which the
author is in no way responsible except for their collation.
It is greatly to be desired that the fundamental work of
Bechamp should be far more widely recognized, and a
debt is due to the author for throwing the limelight on his
work.
S. JUDD LEWIS.

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