166 THE ACTION OF THE LIVING CELL 



lar to that observed in other instances of acute death 

 by cytost. These experiments represent an extreme 

 case of cytost intoxication due solely to inaction. 



Mention has previously been made of the experi- 

 ments conducted by the writer in 1901, in which the 

 less stringent method of confinement in close-fitting, 

 sterile cages was used to cause inactivity. As previ- 

 ously recorded, it was found that under such condi- 

 tions the vast majority of the animals so treated died 

 within a few months, while the majority of those sur- 

 viving this treatment were found at autopsy to have 

 developed various lesions similar to those produced 

 in later years by the repeated injection of homologous 

 cytost. 



The foregoing discussion offers a partial explana- 

 tion for the numerous ill effects, such as malaise, ease 

 of fatigue, and general lowering of the so-called 

 natural resistance, which follow periods of enforced 

 or willful inactivity in both man and animals. 



