He saved
millions to the public treasury, and tens of thousands of human lives.
He had already secured a notable place in science when the public
learned his name through the memorable contest between him and Pouchet
over "spontaneous generation." The probabilities of the case were on
Pouchet's side. People refused to believe that these organisms which
developed in great numbers in an enclosed jar or that the molds which
developed under certain conditions were not produced spontaneously. The
youth of the time went wild over the question.
I was constantly being asked, "Are you for Pouchet or Pasteur?" and my
invariable response was, "I shall be for the one who proves he is
right." I was unwilling to admit that any such question could be solved
_a priori_ in accordance with preconceived ideas, although I must
confess that among my friends I found no one of the same opinion.
We know how Pasteur won a striking victory through his patience and his
genius. He demonstrated that millions and millions of germs are present
in the air about us and that when one of them finds favorable
conditions, a living being appears which engenders others. "Many are
called, but few are chosen." This law may seem unjust, but it is one of
the great laws of Nature.
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