Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1893 — Greatest Living Frenchman. [ARTICLE]

Greatest Living Frenchman.

The greatest living Frenchman today is Louis Pasteur, whose 70th birthday has just been observed with more than ordinary ceremony. He stands without a superior as an original investigator. In 1846 he was appointed professor of chemistry in the High School of Dijon; in 1852 he was a member of the faculty of Strasbourg; three years later he was at the head, of the faculty of sciences of Lille, and in 1857 he was made Scientific Director of the Normal School in Paris. Professor at the Sorbonne from 1807, he obtained successively the Rumford medal for his researches on light, the 10,000 florins prize offered by Austria for having discovered the best method against the silkworm disease; the 12,000 francs prize for his works on wine, vinegar ,andl)eer, and in 1879 he was voted a life pension of 12,000 francs annually by the French Parliament. His principal works, those which are read and re-read by all the savants of the globe, are his studies on the diseases of wine (1866), of vinegar (1868), of beer (1876), of the silkworm disease (1870), and of microbes in 1878. This last mentioned book is the bible of chemists and physiologists, and in it are set forth, described and proved with great authority the principles of the new science which humanity owes to Pasteur. His discovery of the means of attenuating virus transformed surgical and medical practice. He applied his theory in researches on carbuncle diseases, chicken cholera, septicemia, and hydrophobia After having established his ability to prevent diseases in animals, Pasteur utilized his discoveries for the benefit of human beings. The indefatigable savant found immunity for man against that terrible malady known as hydrophobia, and the success of his treatment for mad dog bites is being more and more conclusively proved by experience as time rolls on. He is a very modest man, and as sensitive as a child. The observance of his birthday is indeed memorable. When he walked into the room leaning on the arm of President Carnot and holding the hand of his own son, Pasteur’s knees knocked together literally, and he was glad when he reached his chair. The tears rolled down his cheeks as distinguished men from all parts of Europe talked at him and about him, and when it came to his turn to say something he stood up and tried to do so, hut could not. Prof. Huxley says: “The discoveries of Pasteur would suffice to cover the ransom ol five milliards which France was forced to pay Prussia.”

There are edible lichens in parts of Asia which, when quite small, are sometimes snatched up by the winds and borne away by air currents. They even absorb moisture from the clouds, and sometimes grow to the size of walnuts by the time their air journey is over and they fall to the ground, far from the places of their birth, and are sometimes scattered ovei tracts of desert. These plants yield an agreeable food. The manna on which the Hebrews fed in their wanderings was probably nothing but showers of these edible lichens. Ignorant people quite naturally suppose that such food falls from heaven. The secret of success Is constancy t» purpose.—Disraeli.