----- Original Message ----- From: "Dell Sherk" <dells@voicenet.com> To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 9:26 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Pasteur born after the Napoleonic Wars;was RE: OT? Global Warming > Napoleon III couldn't have come up with the idea of asking Pasteur on his > own. Must have been an advisor. N III, the old goat, was busy making love to > keep the world sparkling. I've read that Napoleon III, apart from loving his fellow women, also showed his love for his fellow man in the sense that he was a philanthropist and actually very socially aware. He instigated the planting of pines across the vast and very poor area known as les Landes in SW France, founding a rich and successful forestry industry which halted the exodus from the area and still thrives today. He also, apparently, was instrumental in the layout of Paris as we know it today. I've been hunting for the link to the article that I read a while ago (in French), but unfortunately have been unable to find it as yet. There is also a society who maintain that N III was much maligned and feel that he was much undervalued and misunderstood as he had ideas of democracy etc far ahead of his time.... Hilary Nightingale in SUNNY Gascony, SW France (this is the first sun we have seen for days - or should that be weeks......?)