I2O APPLICATION OF METHOD IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



like to discuss more closely what is, in our concep- 

 tion, the relation of the micro-organisms to the cell 

 complex of the host. 



Let us return for a moment to the conception we 

 developed at the commencement of this work, accord- 

 ing to which the organism, under normal condi- 

 tions, represents a whole closed in itself. We have 

 already pointed out that the harmony of all the 







processes going on within the whole complex is per- 

 turbed, as soon as disharmonious kinds of cells settle 

 inside it ; that is, species of cells which have their 

 own metabolism, and their own specific structure. 

 On the one hand these cells have to be fed, and on 

 the other they give off the products of their meta- 

 bolism, and perhaps also secretions of various kinds, 

 to the exterior. In order to be able to make use of 

 the nutritive material supplied by the host, which is 

 at first disharmonious with their cells, they also must 

 possess ferments which will make the food accessible. 

 It is conceivable that the substances belonging to the 

 host are first absorbed by the cells, and then trans- 

 formed in their interior, but it is more likely that the 

 invaders give off ferments externally, which decompose 

 the nutritive media around them, and prepare it in that 

 way for absorption. The resulting decomposites are 

 then taken up by the cell. A reconstruction must be 

 made in any case, and especially when the sub- 

 stances are intended, for the building of new cells. 



