The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-05
proIcngIn9 buff1ari Life
Dr.MetchnkOf Declares Nothing Definite Has Been Ac-
cOmpliShed-A Victim Of HaSty Journalists

] chef de service until they bury me
/ For let me again assure you that
/ by no means expect 10 live forever-ol
even for half that time"
And as the doctor makes his little
/ Joke, his mild eyes twinkle for a mo-
ment behind his spectacles.
! Honors, decorations, titles? Oh, yes
/ More than l can recall at the moment
/ Most Of the learned societies have
/ granted memberships and fellowshipS
/ to me; two learned societies Of Amer
I lea have honOred me by according va
rious distinctions. One Of these sOci-
| cites is in Philadelphia, 1 think, and
| the other-oh, you must excuse me, ]
] really do not remember now the locale
of the other. You see these things dc
of course give one a very real pleas
Ure, but they are not very important
| after all
But governmental decorations, NJ. lie
docteur2'
"Oh, OF course 1 have two Russian
orders, and 1 am really proud of hav-
ing oeen made an officer of the Legion
of Honor. Yes, 1 am proud of that
l recognition.
The Scientists Daily Routine.
my daily life 1 go to the institute
at o'clock every morning, week days
and Sundays. l work here till noon.
then l cross the road and take my
lunch. AT half past 1 am back at
the institute. At l leave it for the
day and come home to dinner. 1 gen.
orally spend the evening at home, read
! ing, writing.
mo time to live? Oh, but live for
my work. 1 do not care to go out much
into society. I am an old man-oh,
yes, an old man-and there is so much
to do, so much to find out. Madame
Metchnikoff is fond of society and goes
out a good deal; sometimes she drags
me out of my shell, but slip away
as soon as I can. l like my shell, you
see"
And Madame Metchnikoff-who has
looked in for a moment-taps her hus-
band on the shoulder and says: Yes,
that is your only fault, but it is not a
small one"
For Madame Metchnikoff, a tall,
stately woman of the highest distinc-
ton in manner and appearance, is
known as one of the most brilliant con-
versationalists i'll Paris, and is much
sought at the gatherings of the intel
lectuals."
At the institute Dr. Metchnikoff a
little later shows his study and labor
atOry, where he works in the long, all
erveloping blouse, which, in Paris, ar
lists and doctors and workmen alike
find convenient, and which the stranger
finds very picturesque. Finally a
young doctor attached to the perma-
nent staff is invited to do the honors
of the immense building where the
miracles of modern science are thought
out and perfected. He is eloquent
with regard to the merits of Metchni-
kOff. All through the institute it ap-
pears there is only one opinion of the
doctor. Everyone entertains for him
an immense respect; a respect which
amounts to veneration. In his personal
/ relations with his colleagues and sub
Ordinates he is the simplest and kind
/ est of men.
/ And undoubtedly" the young doc
! tor adds. "One of the first scientists in
the whole wOTld-a marvel of erudition
and the very embodiment of scientific
method and precision and patience.
/ His treatises. published in the annals
of the institute. and in the scientific
reviews Of France, Germany Austria,
England and Russia. have long since
established his reputation on the sureSt
basis. Hitherto his researches have
not been OF the kind which set tongues
wagging outside of the laboratory, but
they have been of Unreasonable and
permanent utility to scientific prog
ress. His lifelong study of the in
fiuence of miCTObic action on the
( health of the human and animal or
ganisms have opened countless new
, lines Of research. He has cleared the
ground for fifty years of further work.
Even if he had never conceived the
idea of prolonging life. which makes
such an immense appeal to every hu-
man being, he would none the less
/ have been known to all whose scien-
TIC opinion is of value"
The portrait of DR.. Metchnikoff
which 1 send with this letter. is a
striking likeness in all essentials. but
it represents. not so much the Metcb-
nikof of the lunch hour, at the Rue
du Tot. as a MetchnikOff trimmed and
combed and generally improved. under
the eye Of madame, for a proper pub
lie appearance.
STEPHEN MACKENNA.
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