New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-30
PASTEUR'S LIFE WORk.
urs WONDERFUL CONTRIBUTIONS TO
MODERN SCIENCE.
.-,,.r ACCOMPLISHED
,.,,,.s,., TRAINING THAT ACCOMPLISHED
GREAT REsULTs-ALMosT REVo'0 ''o'
-, c,,rvrsTRy AND MEDICINE

rho following sketch OF the Work OF rast.u' -
from lecture delivered by Professor Percy h,,
land. F. r. s. professor OF chemistry y" 49, u,,,,.n
lege Birmingham. TO the "'e"'-' -
Association AT Ipswich. , l..
T, NAV be said without exaggerauon 'n'' .''e
no scientific name which is so universally -"
and IN go many different connexions do ~
pasteur The chemist. physicist BIOLOGIST anu "
teal man each view Louis Pasteur 's '.ie io
son,e ~ the most important, novel ana ir"it'u' De
,r,uro. IN their several branches OF kno"Ieuse
,hr. IN The worlds OF Industry and agriculture MS
innuence has also been deeply fet ana s'a'e'u'''
acknowledged The first subject OF ress'i'" an
I'D by Pasteur at the early age OF '"sh'S''
~ such an abstract character that II MS car no"
terminated with its completion the general worid
,a have never known his name, and vet the
,tiated few would have been abe to recognize one
=, Tho sbrewdest scientific observers OF this or any
age. ,>-,>-c
PAsTEURs EARLY TRAINING.
Hts strict mathematical and chemical training 'en
Pasteur to be fascinated with the wonderlu seo
metrical forms which are assumed oy so'iuS -" .Ss
is generally called the crystalline STATE, anu '''
nor,icuIor phenomenon which attracted MS a''e"-
ton waa the existence OF two tartaric ACIDS appa'
entity Identical in chemical composition III 0ne"i'a
properties and In crystalline FORM anu III i'Ot "
ali respects excepting alone that the solution OK
one had no effect poarzed hght "hie '"e 81
ton OF the other turned the plane OF po'a'iNa'.o"
y, tho right Submitting these crystals TO the hos'
soarcb,nu scrutiny pasteur found that there were
some minute faces the crystals OF 'ne a..
tartrste which were absent on the crystals Va '
Inactive tartrate and such importance Ola ne az
tribute TO these little faces that ne recosi'~e a
their presence relegated the substance possessns
,ber n an entirely different class from tna' "
which belonged the substance possessing the'' no.'
The crystals OF the inactive tartarc aoiu VIZ
was destitute OF these little surfaces ne ioui'u
symmetrical while the crystals OF the opuca'ly
oc,ivs tartarlc acid he found were unsymmetricai'
ar dlssymmetrlc he called H. his speculation.
subsequently, developed by Wislicenus. lie be! ana
want Hof led to the foundation OF that most iaS-
o,nstin9 and fertile field OF chemical science no"
known as sereo chemistry and spare1 inc way io'
some OF the greatest achievement OF modern cneih.
isrv such as the artificial production OF the
sugars.
RESEARCHES IN FERMENTATION
pas,eur's genius was however. not long to be re-
tained in TO exclusive service OF ABSTRACT scIe''
II m. course OF his experiments on the dIherent
kinds ~ ,artaric acid he led to try the etect
OF submitting them to fermentation processes anu
he found that the two oppositely acuVe tai'ai'
acids are physologicaly utterly distinct one VI
,bar, heing capable OF undergoing fermentation oy
means OF bacteria, while the other RENAME" ui'-
touched. This striking phenomenon has been largely
utilized nv other investigators for the preparation
Of ne OFFICIALLY active chemical compounds ias
teur was thus drawn BY accident. as IL were iioii
tho inann,ate world OF pure chemistry in'o inc
vortex Of the world OF fe and II was to the study
OF vital phenomena that practically the "hoie OF MS
genius and energies were subsequently devoted Inc
fron.ier line which Pasteur crossed from the 90
main OF chemistry into that OF biology was AT the
time very ill-dehned. The phenomena OF ferfneh'a-
ton which he had attacked were not generaNv re-
carded "a vital phenomena at all, and II required
Years Of patient labor before Pasteur was apie 10
convince the scientific world OF the truth OF MS
statement that fermentation processes were the
work of living microscopic organisms ana tnat each
fermentation process was the work OF distinct or
ganisns knowledge or appreciation OF these cassi-
cal researches has meant wealth TO the brewer
the distler and the Wine grower. and IL IS haruE
an exaggeration to say that the brewer OF to-day
"a able 10 stand the relentless taxation OF the late
Chancellor OF the Exchequer as much through the
labors OF Pa.teur and those who have succeede'
him as through the unquenchaole thirst OF 'he
British proleiarlat.
STUDIES IN BACTERIAL LIFE.
Extensive as were Pasteur's researches in the do
main OF fermentation. there were processes wnich
time did not permit him TO investigate before ne
was hurried on into other fields OF scient'nc inter
est or practlca; utility His intuition. however. LED
him 10 recognize a fermentation process the
transformation known as nitrihcaton. consisting III
tho conversion OF ammonia into salts or nitric acd
which takes place such an extensive scale IN Hi
the fertile soils OF the earth. This process. from
beng regarded as OF simple chemical oxida-
ton IS now recognized dependent upon the
action OF bacterial life; and the particular bacteria
responsible for this action. after long eudihg the
search OF the investigator, have during the last
few years been and described In the course
NJ these researches the astounding fact has been
brought TO light that In these ntrit zing bacteria
we have living cells which capable OF nourish-
ing and multiplying in the entire absence OF OF
ganic matter. Even still more important revelations
I'm vegetable physiology have resulted from the
careful study Of bacteria In recent years tor IL mas
been shown that certain green pants obtain the nj
trogen which they require for their nutrition from
atmospheric nitrogen by means OF certain bacteria
which insest their roots These bacteria produce
rodilar excrescences on the roots, but when they
are carefully excluded these root-noduies 90 not
make their appearance. and the assimilation or
free nitrogen ceases also The recent important re-
searches Of Winogradsky. OF ST. Petersburg, on this
subject have shown that under suitable conditions
certain bacteria can take up this free nitrogen
without the presence OF the green plant at all The
intimate contact in which Pasteur had lived with
these microscopic forms OF life during his researches
fermentation the great importance o. VIII on Was Mas
when they awarded him the prize FOR experimental
interest In the controversy which was then raging
on the spontaneous generation or NE into TINS
contest he plunged despite the urgent protestations
OF many OF his scientific friends who feared that
nothing would come OF his venture, but loss OF
valuable time: but it is now admitted on all sides
n at the settlement OF this question OF such trans
cendent Importance was finally accomplished by
Pasteur through experiments as remarkable FOR
their extreme simplicity as for their c1nching force
THE BACTERIA OF DISEASES.
Soon after he had commenced to study the oac-
terra OF particular diseases he was impressed by
the fact that often IN the course OF cultivation In
artificial media outside the body their virulence be-
came diminished to such an extent that they ceased
70 be fatal on incubation into susceptible animals.
but the most important discovery in this connection
was that the animals noculated with such enfeebled
or attenuated cultures were found TO have become
protected from the disease even when subsequently
inoculated with the most virulent cultures OF the
same organism. This discovery ct once enlarged
the scope OF Pasteurs Investigations. which now In
cluded not merely the study OF infectious diseases
and their exciting causes, but embraced also the