The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1936. LOUIS PASTEUR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 145, 20 June 1936, Page 8

The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1936. LOUIS PASTEUR

JT has been said that the stage can reproduce anything but a , good day’s work, and it is of interest to notice that in the Pasteur film an effort is being made to present a man and his work. Pasteur is perhaps the father of the commercial chemists. He came out of the laboratory with the results of his experiments and improved the making of vinegar, and showed how to avoid the various diseases which affect wine. He investigated the diseases of silk-worms, and by solving the problems inherent in this field saved the silk industry of France. This brought on paralysis. On recovering from this disability he again attacked the problems of the yeast plant and found out why it was that the brew of beer sometimes spoiled from no apparent cause. His greatest work was, of course, in connection with hydrophobia. The bite of a mad dog had caused many men to go insane and to lose their lives. By studying the cultures Pasteur was able to provide antitoxins to counter such dread consequences, and he thereby relieved civilisation of one of its dread curses. . His name has passed into common usage in the term pasteurisation, which is so well known to all dairy farmers and those who arc in contact with various kinds of foods. The term is to-day so often used that its association with Louis Pasteur is overlooked. The man is forgotten in his work—a great achievement and a great monument. But it should not be forgotten that behind the work was necessarily a man, and it is 'to the credit of the film makers that they should have turned to such a character in their efforts to break new ground.