Page 152 - Ethel D. Hume - Bešam ili Paster: Izgubljeno poglavlje u istoriji biologije

A PLAGIARISM FRUSTRATED 149

On the invitation of M. Dumas, Pasteur renewed his
Address to the Academy, under the title of "New Facts to
Assist to a Knowledge of the Theory of Fermentations,
properly so-called." 1
Here Pasteur made the statement in which he claimed
"to separate the chemical phenomena of fermentations
from a crowd of others and particularly from the acts of
ordinary life," in which, of course, nutrition and digestion
must be paramount. Here we clearly see that as late as
1872, while theorising upon fermentation, he had no real
conception of the process, no clear understanding of it as a
function of nourishment and elimination on the part of
living organisms. How little foundation is shown for the
statement made later by his disciple, M. Roux, "The
medical work of Pasteur commences with the study of
fermentation."
Proceeding with his address, Pasteur claimed to have
shown that fermentation is a necessary consequence of the
manifestation of life when that life is accomplished outside
of direct combustion due to free oxygen. Then he con-
—
tinued: "One perceives as a consequence of this theory
that every being, every organ, every cell that lives or
continues its life without the help of the oxygen of the air,
or uses it in an insufficient degree for the whole of the
phenomena of its proper nutrition, must possess the
character of a ferment for the matter that serves as a
source of heat, wholly or in part. This matter seems
necessarily to contain carbon and oxygen, since, as I have
shown, it serves as food to the ferment. ... I now bring
to this new theory, which I have already several times
proposed, although timidly, since the year 1861, the sup-
port of new facts, which I hope will this time compel
conviction." After a description of experiments mere
copies of those undertaken by others, he wound up
—
triumphantly: "I already foresee by the results of my
efforts that a new path will be opened to physiology and
medical pathology."
1
Comptes Rendus 75, p. 784^