22 CELLULAR 



shown by the fact that it has led to the develop- 

 ment of equations which enable us to predict 

 with a satisfactory degree of accuracy the recov- 

 ery curves which are observed under a great va- 

 riety of conditions. 



As the result of these investigations we are 

 led to look upon recovery in a somewhat differ- 

 ent fashion from that which is customary. While 

 recovery is usually regarded as due to the re- 

 versal of the reaction which produces injury, the 

 conception here developed is fundamentally 

 different. It assumes that the reactions involved 

 are irreversible (or practically so) and that in- 

 jury and recovery differ only in the relative 

 speed at which certain processes take place. 



These experiments lead to the view that life 

 depends upon a series of reactions which nor- 

 mally proceed at rates bearing a definite relation 

 to each other. If this is true it is clear that a 

 disturbance of these rate-relations may have a 

 profound effect upon the organism, and may 

 produce such diverse phenomena as stimulation, 

 development, injury, and death. Such a dis- 

 turbance might be produced by changes of 



