Vie de Pasteur. RENÉ V ALLERY-RADOT. Paris: Libraire Hachette et Oie. 1900. Pp. 692. "L'ŒUVRE de Pasteur est admirable, elle montre son g6nie, mais it faut avoir vecu dans son intimite pour connaitre toute la bonte de son mur." These words were written by Dr. Rolix, Pasteur's colleague and friend. They are quoted on the title-page of " La Vie de Pasteur" and give very suggestively an idea of the spirit in which the book has been written by M. Rene Vallery-Radot, the sonin-law of the subject of

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... he biography. Tne first impression received on reading the book is a hope that it will soon be translated into English so that it may be more readily accessible to the English people, but on reflection it becomes evident that a good translation would be almost impossible. A mere transliteration, a turning of French words into Eoglish equivalents more or less exact, would give no jusc idea of the work and might easily prove absurd ; it would necessarily destroy much of the charm of the book, which consists largely in the brief and touching sketches it contains of the domestic life of Pasteur and of his most intimate personal friends. Here and there glimpses are given of that happy and united family life which is probably not uncommon amongst French people, but the details of which are so carefully guarded that they are rarely seen by foreigners, and very rarely ,by Englishmen, who, proud of "home," often profess to pity a people who have no such word and do not appreciate the significance of the association which a Frenchman has with "famille." " The associations of family ran like a golden thread all through the life of Pasteur. One other thing also greatly affected him, as it did all his thoughtful fellow countrymen-the great national catastrophe of 1870. The pitiable condition of France under the foreign invader made the iron to enter into his soul. He became for a time unable to continue his scientific researches and cast about for a solution to the problem as to why France had not found in her hour of need men fit to cope with her difficulties. In the pamphlet which he wrote on this question he ascribed the lack of really great men to the neglect that the country had shown to those who devoted themselves to scientific work. At the end of the eighteenth century, he argued, the country in her time of stress had been saved by her men of science. They had taught how the saltpetre necessary for the manufacture of gunpowder could be obtained by methods hitherto unknown, and by what new processes cannon could be quickly manufactured and how offensive arms could be rapidly provided. Napoleon himself felt the power and the use of applied science and after the battle of Waterloo proposed to go to America to devote himself to such work. Napoleon III., on the contrary, had neglected science, and on one occasion Pasteur wrote with extreme warmth on the action of the Government in this respect, a point to which reference will be made later. The strong impression produced on Pasteur by the disaster of 1870 was shown by the way in which he returned to the University of Bonn a degree which had been conferred on him. It was shown by the fact that towards the end of his life he declined to entertain the idea of receiving a German Order. It was shown by the depth of his gratitude and the greatness of his surprise at the reception which he met with in England as the foremost representative of France at the International Medical Congress of 1881, when at the opening meeting held in St. James's Hall he was greeted with the warmest enthusiasm. On this visit he met the German Crown Prince, and he appreciated the graceful tact of Sir James Paget in not asking him to be presented to the prince, and also the way in which that noble-minded gentleman introduced himself to Pasteur and addressed to him the few words of friendliness and peace which he recorded in a home letter written at the time and which he ever afterwards remembered. Patriotism and family affection were amongst the strongest characteristics of Pasteur, and these qualities may possioly be ascribed in part to heredity. Jean-Joseph Pasteur, the father of the subject of this biography, was a man of strong character. Born in 1792, he became a conscript in 1811, and fought in Spain during the two following years ; he returned to France in 1814, and in that year the regiment in which he served (3rd Infantry) distinguished itself at Bar-sur-Aube and Pasteur became a sergeant-major and received the Cross of the Legion of Honour. After the abdication of the Emperor in 1814 he obtained his discharge from the service and returned to Salines, where the Royalist mayor ordered the " Brigands of the Loire "-as he called the soldiers of the Empire-to give up their swords. Pasteur obeyed, but when he found his sword in the possession of a policeman he wrested it from him Some trouble followed, but the commander of the Austrian forces, which still held the town, sympathised with Pasteur, who was not afterwards interfered with. An " old soldier" although but 25 years of age he settled down to the business of a tanner, and across the stream-miscalled la Furieuse-he foon found his fate in the form of a young gardener who worked there from early dawn. It was Jeanne Etienne Roqui. She came of a family well known in the town and could trace her descent from a vine-grower who lived in the middle of the sixteenth century. The members of her family had the reputation of being so much attached to one another that 11 to love like the Roqui" had become proverbial. These young people were married in 1815 and in 1822 a son, Louis Pasteur, was born. He received the early part of his education at Arbois. The Pasteur family had amongst their acquaintances several men of some culture who took an interest in the young student. Amongst these was Dumont, a retired army surgeon, on whose advice young Pasteur was sent to Paris to continue his studies He was then only 16 years of age and the great city terrified him. He became so homesick that his father brought him back for a time ; he afterwards went to Besançon, where he took the degree of bachelier es lettres in the year 1840. At the examination he did not greatly distinguish himself ; he pleased the examiners in Latin, in Greek, and in rhetoric, but did only moderately well in history and geography. After leaving Besançon he went to Dijon, and in the examination for baccalauréat in sciences and mathematics he came out fourteenth in the list of 22 candidates. He was " weak in chemistry. In 1842 Pasteur returned to Pa, is, where he attended lectures at the Lycée Saint-Louis and those of Dumas, the chemist, at the Sorbonne. He worked very hard, suffered from headache, and lived with great frugality. His father gave him some very good advice, counselling him to dine well at least twice a week with his great friend Chappuis and adding that he had bottled some 1834 wine which should be kept for their return. There was, he said, more spirit in that wine than in all the books of philosophy which had ever been written, but he cautiously added that it would not help to solve mathematical formulas. The companionship of Chappuis was a great help to Pasteur. Left to himself he devoted all his time to study and was constantly in the library. With his friend he discussed during their walks those problems which interested him, and his ideas became clear when he examined them from different points of view. The first great problem which he wished to solve had reference to a mystery about tartaric acid and its conduct with polarised light, and from this inquiry he hoped to be enabled to get a general insight into the relation between crystalline form and the polarisation of light. It was a great work and the results which he