Page 179 - madame-bovary

tatterdemalions!’
The druggist was passing. He had on a frock-coat, nan-
keen trousers, beaver shoes, and, for a wonder, a hat with a
low crown.
‘Your servant! Excuse me, I am in a hurry.’ And as the fat
widow asked where he was going—
‘It seems odd to you, doesn’t it, I who am always more
cooped up in my laboratory than the man’s rat in his
cheese.’
‘What cheese?’ asked the landlady.
‘Oh, nothing! nothing!’ Homais continued. ‘I merely
wished to convey to you, Madame Lefrancois, that I usually
live at home like a recluse. To-day, however, considering the
circumstances, it is necessary—‘
‘Oh, you’re going down there!’ she said contemptuously.
‘Yes, I am going,’ replied the druggist, astonished. ‘Am I
not a member of the consulting commission?’
Mere Lefrancois looked at him for a few moments, and
ended by saying with a smile—
‘That’s another pair of shoes! But what does agriculture
matter to you? Do you understand anything about it?’
‘Certainly I understand it, since I am a druggist—that
is to say, a chemist. And the object of chemistry, Madame
Lefrancois, being the knowledge of the reciprocal and
molecular action of all natural bodies, it follows that ag-
riculture is comprised within its domain. And, in fact, the
composition of the manure, the fermentation of liquids, the
analyses of gases, and the influence of miasmata, what, I ask
you, is all this, if it isn’t chemistry, pure and simple?’

1 Madame Bovary