Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 27.djvu/570

552 Association of French Students, the "Scientia"; and when his name was mentioned in connection with those of Jamin, Pasteur, De Lesseps, and Léon Say, as one of the persons whose co-operation was expected to insure the success of the organization. In his address at this meeting, he declared himself still a student.

On the 4th of January last the students of Paris made a manifestation before M. Chevreul's house, with their flags flying, in honor—anticipating the day by a few months—of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. Twenty delegates from the body were received in person by M. Chevreul, when M. Delcambre, President of the Association of Students, spoke in eulogy of the great savant by whom France is honored, and who, reaching his hundredth year, still remained robust and valiant, and preserved all the force of his genius and his old energy in work. In concluding his address, M. Delcambre said: "Illustrious and beloved master, the students of all the schools have joined in this manifestation because you are to us all—I say it with full assurance—a dean, and, I hope I may be permitted to add, a comrade. As a savant, you have contributed to the progress of humanity; as a Frenchman, you have added to the grandeur of France. The students by my lips transmit to you their good wishes and felicitations." M. Chevreul appeared much touched by this demonstration, and thanked the students with a voice marked by emotion. M. Delcambre then presented him a register containing the signatures of all the participants.

An interesting account of M. Chevreul's habits is given by a writer who is quoted in the "Lancet": "He is generally lightly clad, and wears no hat unless under circumstances in which he is obliged to appear in one; indeed, he hardly needs a hat, as he has most luxuriant hair. He is constantly at work, allowing only ten minutes for each of his meals, of which he has but two a day. He breakfasts at seven, the repast consisting of a plate of meat and another of vegetables, which he eats together, the whole being washed down with two tumblers of water. He is said to have never drunk a glass of wine in his life. He dines at seven in the evening, and takes nothing between the two meals except a small loaf at noon, which he eats standing and by the side of his alembics. The writer who relates this states that on a visit to M. Chevreul he found him in the attitude just described, and on expressing his surprise at the frugal manner in which he lived, M. Chevreul observed, 'I am very old' (this was in 1874), 'and I have yet a great deal to do, so I do not wish to lose my time in eating.'" In his work he is said to follow a motto that he has chosen from a maxim by Malebranche, and which is regarded by "Nature" as affording a true key to his life, his works, and his discoveries: "Chercher toujours l'infaillibilité, sans avoir prétention de l'atteindre jamais" ("Always to seek infallibility, without having the pretension of ever reaching it").