CHAPTER XXXVI 

 DEATH AND DISSOLUTION 



" It is easy to show that these differences in temperature which are required 

 to secure organic liquids from ultimate change depend exclusively upon the 

 state of the liquids, their nature and above all upon the conditions which affect 

 their neutrality whether towards acids or bases." PASTEUR. 



IT has been said that death is a necessary stage in the process 

 of development. Rubner considers that death takes place 

 naturally after the organism has utilised a certain amount of 

 energy per kilo. His second law, that of " length of life," is as 

 follows, " The amount of energy consumed in a kilogram of living 

 protoplasm from maturity to death is constant for all animals (and 

 equals 191,600 cals.), except in the case of man, who uses up four times 

 as much." Be that as it may, and no adequate proof of its truth 

 is offered, it does not serve as a guide to any reasonable physico- 

 chemical explanation of the process. An inorganic piece of 

 machinery will last an indefinite time provided it is kept in repair 

 and parts are renewed before they have become too much worn. 

 As long as suitable energy, etc., is supplied the machine will run. 

 The human machine, with its large repair staff always " on the 

 spot " and with plentiful supplies of material and energy, begins 

 to show signs of failure after 35 or 40 years of life. The curve 

 of growth, development and efficiency each shows a maximum 

 and then decline sets in. 



Length of life is specific for each species and seems to be related 

 to the time taken by the animal to reach sexual maturity. With 

 that consummation, changes take place in the whole organism 

 leading, according to Loeb following Metchnikoff, to the (unavoid- 

 able) formation in the body of some toxin or, as more modern 

 work suggests, to the inhibition of the formation of an endocrine 

 secretion. 



Death is followed by a more or less rapid dissolution of the body, 

 a process whose mechanism is more easily followed. The lack 



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