fabre, poet of science-第7节
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whether natural history is not my favourite science。〃 (3/12。)
》From that time forward he began to collect not only dead; inert; or
dessicated forms; mere material for study; with the aim of satisfying his
curiosity; he began to dissect with ardour; a thing he had never done
before。 He housed his tiny guests in his cupboard; and occupied himself; as
he was always to do in the future; with the smaller living creatures only。
〃I am dissecting the infinitely little; my scalpels are tiny daggers which
I make myself out of fine needles; my marble slab is the bottom of a
saucer; my prisoners are lodged by the dozen in old match…boxes; maxime
miranda in minimis。〃 (3/13。)
Roaming at night along the marshy beaches; he contracted fever; and several
terrible attacks; accompanied by alarming tremors; left him so bloodless
and feeble that; much against his will; he had to beg for relief; and even
insist upon his prompt return to the mainland。 in the meantime he obtained
sick…leave; and returned to Provence after a terrible crossing which lasted
no less than three days and two nights; on a sea so furious that he gave
himself up for lost。 (3/14。)
Slowly he recovered his health; and after a second but brief stay at
Ajaccio he received the news of his appointment to the lycée of Avignon。
(3/15。)
He returned with his imagination enriched and his mind expanded; with
settled ideas; and thoroughly ripe for his task。
CHAPTER 4。 AT AVIGNON。
The resolute worker resumed his indefatigable labours with an ardour
greater than ever; for now he was haunted by a noble ambition; that of
becoming a teacher of the superior grade; and of 〃talking plants and
animals〃 in a chair of the faculty。 With this end in view he added to his
two diplomasthose of mathematics and physicsa third certificate; that
of natural sciences。 His success was triumphant。
Already tenacious and fearless in affirming what he believed to be the
truth; he astonished and bewildered the professors of Toulouse。 Among the
subjects touched upon by the examiners was the famous question of
spontaneous generation; which was then so vital; and which gave rise to so
many impassioned discussions。 The examiner; as it chanced; was one of the
leading apostles of this doctrine。 The future adversary of Darwin; at the
risk of failure; did not scruple to argue with him; and to put forward his
personal convictions and his own arguments。 He decided the vexed question
in his own way; on his own responsibility。 A personality already so
striking was regarded with admiration; a candidate so far out of the
ordinary was welcomed with enthusiasm; and but for the insufficiency of the
budget which so scantily met the needs of public instruction his
examination fees would have been returned。 (4/1。)
Why; after this brilliant success; was Fabre not tempted to enter himself
for a fellowship; which would later in his career have averted so many
disappointments? It was doubtless because he felt; obscurely; that his
ideal future lay along other lines; and that he would have been taking a
wrong turning。 Despite all the solicitations which were addressed to him he
would think of nothing but 〃his beloved studies in natural history〃 (4/2。);
he feared to lose precious time in preparing himself for a competitive
examination; 〃to compromise by such labour; which he felt would be
fruitless〃 (4/3。); the studies which he had already commenced; and the
inquiries already carried out in Corsica。 He was busy with his first
original labours; the theses which he was preparing with a view to his
doctorate in natural science; 〃which might one day open the doors of a
faculty for him; far more easily than would a fellowship and its
mathematics。〃 (4/4。)
At heart he was utterly careless of dignities and degrees。 He worked only
to learn; not to attain and follow up a settled calling。 What he hoped
above all was to succeed in devoting all his leisure to those marvellous
natural sciences in which he could vaguely foresee studies full of
interest; something animated and vital; a thousand fascinating themes; and
an atmosphere of poetry。
His genius; as yet invisible; was ripening in obscurity; but was ready to
come forth; he lacked only the propitious circumstance which would allow
him to unfold his wings。
He was seeking them in vain when a volume by Léon Dufour; the famous
entomologist; who then lived in the depths of the Landes; fell by chance
into his hands; and lit the first spark of that beacon which was presently
to decide the definite trend of his ideas。
It was this incident which then and there developed the germs already
latent within him。 These had only awaited such an occasion as that which so
fortunately came to pass one evening of the winter of 1854。
Fabre offers yet another example of the part so often played by chance in
the manifestations of talent。 How many have suddenly felt the unexpected
awakening of gifts which they did not suspect; as a result of some unusual
circumstance!
Was it not simply as a result of having read a note by the Russian chemist
Mitscherlich on the comparison of the specific characteristics of certain
crystals that Pasteur so enthusiastically took up his researches into
molecular asymmetry which were the starting…point of so many wonderful
discoveries?
Again; we need only recall the case of Brother Huber; the celebrated
observer of the bee; who; having out of simple curiosity undertaken to
verify certain experiments of Réaumur's; was so completely and immediately
fascinated by the subject that it became the object of the rest of his
life。
Again; we may ask what Claude Bernard would have been had he not met
Magendie? Similarly Léon Dufour's little work was to Fabre the road to
Damascus; the electric impulse which decided his vocation。
It dealt with a very singular fact concerning the manners of one of the
hymenoptera; a wasp; a Cerceris; in whose nest Dufour had found small
coleoptera of the genus Buprestis; which; under all the appearances of
death; retained intact for an incredible time their sumptuous costume;
gleaming with gold; copper; and emerald; while the tissues remained
perfectly fresh。 In a word; the victims of Cerceris; far from being
desiccated or putrefied; were found in a state of integrity which was
altogether paradoxical。
Dufour merely believed that the Buprestes were dead; and he gave an
attempted explanation of the phenomenon。
Fabre; his curiosity and interest aroused; wished to observe the facts for
himself; and; to his great surprise; he discovered how incomplete and
insufficiently verified were the observations of the man who was at that
time known as 〃the patriarch of entomologists。〃
》From that moment he saw his way ahead; he suspected that there was still
much to discover and much to revise in this vast department of nature; and
conceived the idea of resuming the work so splendidly outlined by Réaumur
and the two Hubers; but almost completely neglected since the days of those
illustrious masters。 He divined that here were fresh pastures; a vast
unexplored country to be opened up; an entire unimagined science to be
founded; wonderful secrets to be discovered; magnificent problems to be
solved; and he dreamed of consecrating himself unreservedly; of employing
his whole life in the pursuit of this object; that long life whose fruitful
activity was to extend over nearly ninety years; and which was to be so
〃representative〃 by the dignity of the man; the probity of the expert; the
genius of the observer; and the originality of the writer。
The year 1855 saw the first appearance; in the 〃Annales des sciences
naturelles;〃 of the famous memoir which marked the beginning of his fame:
the history; which might well be called marvellous and incredible; of the
great Cerceris; a giant wasp and 〃the finest of the Hymenoptera which hunt
for booty at the foot of Mont Ventoux。〃 (4/5。)
Fabre was now thirty…two years old; and his situation as assistant…
professor of physics was somewhat precarious。 From the 72 pounds sterling
which he drew at Ajaccio; an overseas post; his salary was reduced; on his
return to the mainland; to 64 pounds sterling; and during the whole of his
stay at Avignon he obtained neither promotion nor the smallest increase of
pay; excepting a few additional profits which were unconnected with his
habitual duties。 When he left the university after twenty well…filled
years; he left as he had entered; with the same title; rank; and salary of
a mere assistant…professor。
Yet all about him 〃everywhere and for every one; all was black indeed〃: his
family had increased and therewith his expenses; there were now seven at
table every day。 Very shortly his modest salary would no longer suffice; he
was obliged to supplement it by all sorts of hack…workclasses;
〃repetitions;〃 private lessons; tasks which repelled him; for