IMMUNITY AND THE POWER OF DIGESTION. 2OQ 



manner. And we know that this is not the case. We know that 

 in multicellular organisms there exists a digestive cavity, into 

 which free enzymes are poured, we know, however, that in sea- 

 anemones, though a digestive cavity does exist, no ferments had 

 ever been discovered in it and the digestion of the food proceeds 

 through the immediate apposition to it of definitecellular elements. 

 The fact that at least in some cases the phagocy tic and digestive 

 activity of the mesenchymal adult cells is found to be the dele- 

 terious factor, which cannot be overcome by some of the tumors 

 and which inhibits the growth of these tumors, or rather destroys 

 an actively growing tumor, throws a new light on the immunity 

 problem in general, since the power of resistance against pro- 

 liferation of foreign tissue, though manifested in different ways, 

 can certainly not be of a fundamentally different nature. 



