Licence: In copyright
Credit: Pasteur / by Percy Frankland and Mrs. Percy Frankland. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
16/252 (page 10)
![“ A la Mevioire de mon P^'e, nncien inilitaire sous le Premier Empire, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. Plus fai availed en dge, inieux fai compris ton amitid et la superioritd de ta raison. Les efforts quefai consaerds a ces Etudes et a celles qui les ont jyreccd'ees sont le fruit de tes exemples et de ies conseils. Youlant honorer ces ptiexix souvenirs, je dddie cet ouvrage a ta memoire,” * a tribute surely more imperishable and more covet- able even than the ribbon pinned to his timie by the victor of Marengo and Austerlitz ! When old enough, Pasteur was sent as a day scholar to the College Communal; but books and study had little attraction for him, and he preferred to follow his favourite ])astime of fishing, and to delight his companions and neighbours by sketching their por- traits, some dozen of which are still shown Avith pride by the inhabitants of Arbois. “What a pity he has buried himself amongst a heap of chemistry!” remarked an old woman of Arbois many years later. “ lie has missed his vocation, for he would some day have really succeeded in making a name as a painter; ” and, indeed, the portrait of his mother Avhich used to hang in his house in Paris is in itself evidence of the marked artistic talent possessed by Pasteur when a mere lad. But as time Avent on, young Pasteur began to realise the sacrifices his parents had made for bis education; and rousing himself from his lethargy, he put from him his hobby and his pastime, locked aAvay his brushes and his fishing-tackle, so as to be delivered from temptation, and put his shoulder [to * “ Etudes sur la Biciro,” Publisliod in 1876,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21959286_0018.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
