That same January, Pasteur wrote to Chappuis: “I am pursuing as best I can these studies on fermentation which are of great interest, connected as they are with the impenetrable mystery of Life and Death. I am hoping to mark a decisive step very soon by solving, without the least confusion, the celebrated question of spontaneous generation. Already I could speak, but I want to push my experiments yet further. There is so much obscurity, together with so much passion, on both sides, that I shall require the accuracy of an arithmetical problem to convince my opponents by my conclusions. I intend to attain even that.”
This progress was depicted to his father in the following letter, dated February 7, 1860--
“I think I told you that I should read a second and last lecture on my old researches on Friday, at the Chemical Society, before several members of the Institute--amongst others, Messrs. Dumas and Claude Bernard. That lecture has had the same success as the first. M. Biot heard about it the next day through some distinguished persons who were in the audience, and sent for me in order to kindly express his great satisfaction.
“After I had finished, M. Dumas, who occupied the chair, rose and addressed me in these words. After praising the zeal I had brought to this novel kind of teaching at the Society’s request, and the _so great penetration I had given proof of, in the course of the work I had just expounded, he added, ‘The Académie, sir, rewarded you a few days ago for other profound researches; your audience of this evening will applaud you as one of the most distinguished professors we possess._’
“All I have underlined was said in those very words by M. Dumas, and was followed by great applause.
“All the students of the scientific section of the Ecole Normale were present; they felt deeply moved and several of them have expressed their emotion to me.
“As for myself, I saw the realization of what I had foreseen. You know how I have always told you confidentially that time would see the growth of my researches on the molecular dissymmetry of natural organic products. Founded as they were on varied notions borrowed from divers branches of science--crystallography, physics, and chemistry--those studies could not be followed by most scientists so as to be fully understood. On this occasion I presented them in the aggregate with some clearness and power and every one was struck by their importance.