210 THE ACTION OF THE LIVING CELL 



supplying the animal with an adequate quantity of its 

 natural foods, with proper housing conditions, and 

 with facilities for exercise. If for any reason such 

 conditions cannot be adequately fulfilled, then this 

 lack may in part be remedied by active immunization 

 with homologous cytost. 



The writer makes no claim that such immunization 

 offers a panacea for all animal ills, but suggests, rather, 

 that the results of his experiments indicate that the 

 stimulation of anticytost formation offers a powerful 

 weapon for the prevention of such ills. Of course, like 

 all preventive measures, it is not infallible; but the 

 experimental results enumerated in this chapter sug- 

 gest that it is worthy of a trial in otherwise obscure 

 cases, and in connection with the breeding of animals 

 under the conditions enforced by captivity. 



It would be exceedingly interesting to ascertain 

 whether or not immunization to homologous cytost 

 would stimulate breeding in those wild animals 

 which are known to breed poorly or not at all when 

 held in captivity. In this connection it is opportune 

 to note the methods being used in rearing the baby 

 gorilla at the New York Zoological Park. Accord- 

 ing to current press accounts (March, 1932), those 

 in charge of this young animal have departed from 

 the time-honored methods of raising gorillas in cap- 

 tivity and have permitted their charge to romp in 

 the snow during the winter time. According to some, 

 this should prove suicidal, since the gorilla is natu- 

 rally acclimated to a warm environment. With the 

 animal in question, however, now five years old, this 

 procedure has proved actually beneficial, and he seems 

 to be withstanding the rigors of New York weather 



