Page 105 - Ethel D. Hume - Bešam ili Paster: Izgubljeno poglavlje u istoriji biologije

102 BECHAMP OR PASTEUR?
a week with the Emperor and Empress at the Palace of
Compiegne.
Napoleon III was, we are told, deeply interested in
science. At any rate, he and the Empress listened with
condescending deference to Pasteur's discourses. The
latter was not only brought into close contact with
eminent diplomatists and the shining lights of art and
literature, but was singled out from among these celebrities
for special Imperial favours. His silk-worm perplexities
were confided to Eugenie, and that gracious lady en-
couraged him to fresh endeavours. Limelight is invariably
thrown upon those smiled upon by Imperial personages,
and it is easy to understand the increasing deference that
began to be shown to Pasteur by most of his compeers. As
regards the silk-worm disease, instead of being watchful
for the correct verdict, the world at large merely waited to
hear what M. Pasteur had to say on the subject.
In February, 1866, the latter again started for that part
of France then suffering from the trouble, and this time
fortified himself with the company of scientific assistants.
Government again gave all the help possible, and the
Minister of Public Instruction granted special leave of
absence to M. Gernez, a Professor at the College Louis le
Grand, so that he might be free to help Pasteur. Yet, in
spite of all this assistance, and notwithstanding extra early
rising, his biographer has to admit that the results Pasteur
arrived at "were being much criticised." 1 His actual pro-
nouncements his son-in-law has wisely passed over and
instead has introduced various topics to divert the atten-
—
tion of the reader who persists in asking "What was
Pasteur's solution of the silk-worm mystery?"
Fortunately, lovers oftruth can find the exact answers in
the Reports of the French Academy of Science. The first
one to turn to however, is a Note, not by M. Pasteur, but
by Professor Bechamp, which comes under the date of the
1 8th June, 1866. 2
1
The Life of Pasteur, by Rene Vallery-Radot, p. 133.
2
Comptes Rendus 62, p. 1341.