It may be interesting to beginners to read here how I wrote my first magazine article as a girl, in amateur days. This will illustrate how wise it is to make use of one’s opportunities; how from one small beginning a path may be opened in the wood of difficulty, at which, except in rare instances, all but genius has to hew. I chanced to be in Paris in 1890, with my husband and mother who knew Pasteur, and thus I saw a good deal of the delightful, grey-bearded old gentleman whose work made such a stir at that time and revolutionised science. He was then about seventy. Short in stature, he was in no way a striking figure, but his clear eyes and thoughtful face arrested attention. I shall never forget the charm of his manner, and the courteous tolerance he displayed towards an unscientific young woman, who had no excuse for poking about the place save that she was the sister of one of his students and the daughter of a scientist. At that time Pasteur did very little personal work or research himself, but he most carefully superintended everything that was done under his roof. So anxious was he for others to benefit by his experience that he had set apart fourteen tables in his large laboratory, at which were to be found working students of all nationalities and ages, from twenty-five to fifty—some of them men who had already won a name in science. No charge was made to them beyond the price of the materials they used, and every facility for scientific research was provided. The hydrophobia cure was then the subject of commanding interest in the scientific world. It was a curious set of people who assembled in the large outer hall of the Institute every morning. On one occasion when I was there the patients numbered eighty-nine, amongst whom were a little English girl (the first to be sent over by the Lord Mayor’s Mansion-House Fund), a French soldier, a Belgian fisherman, a German, and many more of different nationalities. On my return to England from that visit, with mental and scribbled notes, I sat down to write a little article on “Pasteur and his Institute,” which I sent addressed to the editor of _Murray’s Magazine_, feeling quite proud of myself but absolutely certain of its rejection. It was the first magazine article I had attempted. What was my surprise on receiving a letter in the course of a few days, signed “The Editor,” saying that he had been much interested in the article, but it was far too short for a magazine, and if I could double its length and write on one side of the paper only, he would have great pleasure in inserting it.