Chapter III 



THE RELEASE OF CYTOST FROM CELLS 



In the previous chapters we have called attention 

 to the fact that under the proper conditions, living 

 cells appear to be potentially immortal. The "proper 

 conditions" consist in an adequate food supply and 

 a satisfactory mechanism for the removal of non- 

 utilizable and toxic metabolites. By its growth and 

 ever-changing activities the cell expends energy, and, 

 not being endowed with an inexhaustible supply of 

 the latter, obtains it by the oxidative degradation of 

 foodstuffs. 



While the greater part of ingested foods is actu- 

 ally utilized as a source of energy a smaller quantity 

 is transformed by suitable chemical reactions into the 

 proteins, carbohydrates and fats which constitute the 

 basis of the morphological structure. As a conse- 

 quence of the chemical changes taking place within 

 the cells, numerous end products which are not 

 utilizable either as a source of energy or for struc- 

 tural purposes are excreted. Many of these end 

 products, if not removed from the immediate environ- 

 ment of the cell, exert a toxic action which ultimately 

 results in the death of the cell. 



It is now generally accepted that the chemical 



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