4. Professional work. a. Professor of Physics at Dijon (1848), and of Chemistry at Strassburg (1849). b. Professor and Dean of Faculty at Lille (1854). c. Scientific Director of Ecole Normale, Paris (1847), and Professor of Chemistry at Sorbonne, Paris (1867). d. Director of Pasteur Institute, Paris (1888). 5. Death, at St. Cloud, Sept. 28, 1895. 6. Position as a scientist. a. His life devoted to most important scientific investigations. b. Highest honors bestowed upon him by men of science in all countries. c. "The most perfect man in the realm of science." II. Important Contributions to Biological Knowledge. 1. Investigations relative to fermentation and decay. a. Fermentation formerly believed to be purely a chemical process, independent of the activity of living organisms. b. Fermentation and putrefaction proved by Pasteur to be always due to the action of living microorganisms (yeast and bacteria). c. Each kind of fermentation or decay demonstrated to be due to the activity of different kinds of germs. 2. Discoveries relative to silkworm disease. a. Silk cultivation throughout France and Italy threatened by this disease. b. Silkworm disease proved by long investigations of Pasteur to be due to minute germs infesting eggs, larvæ, pupæ, and moth of silkworm. c. Disease eradicated by scientific treatment suggested by Pasteur. 3. Researches relative to splenic fever among horses, cattle, sheep, and human beings. 'a. Rod-shaped bacteria found to be the cause of the disease. b. Bacteria from the bodies of buried victims of the disease proved by Pasteur to be brought to the surface by earthworms. c. Splenic fever checked by inoculating animals with a virus prepared in a manner somewhat like that of the virus of hydrophobia (see 4 below). 4. Discoveries relating to hydrophobia (1885). a. Hydrophobia demonstrated to be a disease attacking the nervous system of victims bitten by mad dogs, wolves, or cats. b. Solutions made from fresh spinal cords of animals thus bitten, on being injected into healthy animals always cause hydrophobia. c. Spinal cords of animals dying of hydrophobia found to lose virulence (i.e. disease-producing power) after being dried. d. Virus (i.e. glycerine solutions) obtained from spinal cords dried for varying lengths of time found to contain corresponding degrees of virulence. e. Method of treatment for hydrophobia. (a) Cauterization (burning) of wound with strong nitric acid. (b) Injection on twenty-one successive days of virus of gradually increasing strength. f. Result of Pasteur treatment in Paris; of 21,631 cases treated only 99 victims of the disease died, i.e. less than 1 per cent. 5. Discoveries of other scientists directly due to Pasteur's work. a. Lister's methods of antiseptic treatment of wounds. b. Koch's investigations as to the cause and treatment of tuberculosis. c. Roux's and von Behring's antitoxin treatment for diphtheria. APPENDIX I LABORATORY EQUIPMENT The laboratory. - It is very desirable that a definite room or rooms be set apart for work in biology, since at least a minimum equipment is essential, and this cannot be transferred from room to room without considerable loss of efficiency. While it is desirabie to have tables or at least flat-topped desks of good size, satisfactory FIG. 87. Plans for a laboratory table. laboratory work can be done in an ordinary class room if it is well lighted. The laboratory should be supplied with a demonstration table and gas connection if possible, with sink and running water, and a broad shelf should be placed in front of the windows for supporting growing plants and aquaria, and for use in demonstrations with the compound microscope. Ample closet room should be provided in which to store apparatus and supplies, so that they may be kept free from dust. In case it is possible to equip a room with laboratory tables the following type is suggested. In the first place the laboratory tables should be firmly fixed to the floor, and arranged so that the light comes from the left side, and if possible also from the back of the room. The desk tops should be 30 inches from the floor and 20 inches wide, and should be made of maple or other hard wood. The length of each table will of course depend upon the dimensions of the room, but if possible no more than three pupils should be provided for at a single table. Each student should have at least 30 inches of the table space. (Fig. 87.) "The finish of the laboratory table tops is a matter of importance, since it must be such as to protect the wood from damage, and keep it clean and smooth. Many prefer a black finish, to obtain which the following method gives good results. "Apply solution (1), followed immediately by (2) several times, until the wood becomes a dark green, allowing the applications to dry each time. The darker the tone reached, the better. The wood must then be washed thoroughly with soap and hot water applied with a brush. This is necessary in order to remove the superfluous salts. The table is finished with oil and will then be dead black."1 The advantages of the dull black finish are these: (1) there is little reflection of light from this kind of surface into the eyes of the pupils; (2) the black surface furnishes an admirable background for many objects of study; and (3) the tops are not injured by water, acids, or other chemicals. Experience has shown that unless the laboratory must be used 1 From Lloyd and Bigelow's "The Teaching of Biology." as an assembly room for a division at the beginning and close of school, drawers and shelves beneath the desk are of little real use, and often become mere receptacles for laboratory débris, unless they are provided with locks. It is usually far safer and more satisfactory to collect drawings, magnifiers, pencils, etc., at the close of the period, and to distribute materials as they are needed during the next period. If this work is properly systematized and the assistance of pupils is made use of, very little of the laboratory time is lost in this way. Seats fixed to the floor, likewise, are of great advantage. The authors have found that the best seat for this purpose is the Chandler chair, which is furnished by the American Seating Company, 19 West 18th St., New York City. It has a strong iron base, which can be screwed to the floor, and the chair seat turns on ball-bearings through an arc of 180 degrees. The price of the chair is $2. Apparatus and chemicals. The following lists of apparatus and chemicals are suggested as a minimum equipment for a class of 24. Most of the items can be purchased from any one of the following dealers: Bausch and Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, New York. QUANTITY 1 APPARATUS AND GLASSWARE ESTIMATED PRICE Compound microscope, with 3- and 4-inch objec- 3 ft. Rubber tubing (heavy) to fit Bunsen burners $30.00 16.20 6.00 1.50 1.50 .50 .40 .60 .80 |