Page 23 - Ethel D. Hume - Bešam ili Paster: Izgubljeno poglavlje u istoriji biologije

20 BfiCHAMP OR PASTEUR?
These conclusions may not all yet be adopted, but as so
many of Bechamp's other teachings have come, by the
independent work of some and the plagiarisms of others,
to be generally accepted, it would seem, to say the least
of it, possible that his amazing revelation of nature's
biological processes may become public property and we
wish to ensure the recognition of its legitimate parentage.
He showed that the cell must no longer be regarded in
accordance with Virchow's view as the unit of life, since it
is built up by the cell-granules within it. He it was, it
seems, who first drew attention to the union of these same
cell-granules, which he called "microzymas," and to the
rod-like groupings that result, which now go by the name
of chromosomes. He laid great stress upon the im-
measurable minuteness of his microzymas and from his
teaching we can well infer his agreement in the belief that
myriads must be ultra-microscopic, although he had far
too exact a mind to descant in modern airy fashion upon
matters that are purely conjectural. Where he exhibited
his practical genius was that, instead of drawing fancy
pictures of primeval developments of chromatin, he traced
by rigid experiment the actual building up of cells from
the "molecular granulations," that is, microsomes, or
microzymas. It was never his method to draw conclusions
except from a sure experimental basis.
It was while Bechamp was undertaking his researches
upon fermentation, at the very time that he was engaged
upon what will prove to be part of what he named his
"Beacon Experiment," that he was called from Strasbourg
to Montpellier to occupy the Chair of Medical Chemistry
and Pharmacy at that famous University.
The period that followed seems likely to have been the
happiest of his life. Filling an important position, he
carried out his duties with the utmost distinction, his
demonstrations before students gaining great renown. He
had already made and was further developing extraordin-
ary discoveries, which were arresting attention both in and
beyond France. These gained him the devoted friendship