﻿THE 
  TRANSITION 
  FROM 
  LIVE 
  TO 
  DEAD: 
  THE 
  NATURE 
  OF 
  

   FILTRABLE 
  VIRUSES 
  ' 
  

  

  By 
  A. 
  E. 
  Boycott, 
  D. 
  M. 
  

  

  Rutherford 
  was 
  an 
  example 
  of 
  the 
  danger 
  and 
  folly 
  of 
  cultivating 
  thoughts 
  and 
  

   reading 
  books 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  not 
  equal. 
  It 
  is 
  all 
  very 
  well 
  that 
  remarkable 
  

   persons 
  should 
  occupy 
  themselves 
  with 
  exalted 
  subjects 
  which 
  are 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  

   ordinary 
  road, 
  but 
  we 
  who 
  are 
  not 
  remarkable 
  make 
  a 
  very 
  great 
  mistake 
  if 
  we 
  

   have 
  anything 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  them. 
  — 
  W. 
  Hale 
  White, 
  preface 
  to 
  the 
  second 
  edition 
  

   of 
  The 
  Autobiography 
  of 
  Mark 
  Rutherford. 
  

  

  Pathologists 
  are 
  such 
  practical 
  people 
  that 
  I 
  feel 
  that 
  I 
  am 
  straining 
  

   the 
  privilege 
  of 
  a 
  presidential 
  address 
  about 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  it 
  will 
  go 
  in 
  

   attempting 
  to 
  discuss 
  such 
  a 
  topic 
  as 
  the 
  relation 
  between 
  things 
  

   which 
  we 
  call 
  alive 
  and 
  things 
  which 
  we 
  caU 
  dead. 
  But, 
  though 
  we 
  

   seldom 
  have 
  opportunities 
  of 
  talking 
  about 
  them, 
  we 
  all 
  have 
  our 
  

   speculative 
  moments 
  when 
  we 
  wonder 
  about 
  things 
  in 
  general 
  and 
  try 
  

   to 
  put 
  together 
  some 
  sort 
  of 
  lay 
  figure 
  on 
  which 
  we 
  can 
  hang 
  the 
  facts 
  

   which 
  interest 
  us 
  and 
  -see 
  how 
  they 
  fit, 
  and 
  I 
  should 
  like 
  to 
  take 
  this 
  

   chance 
  of 
  getting 
  rid 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  my 
  own 
  imaginings 
  and 
  sketching 
  the 
  

   Jemima 
  on 
  which 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  look 
  fairly 
  presentable. 
  And 
  I 
  do 
  this 
  

   in 
  a 
  gathering 
  of 
  pathologists 
  because 
  a 
  good 
  deal 
  of 
  light 
  is 
  thrown 
  

   on 
  the 
  whole 
  question 
  of 
  "live" 
  and 
  "dead" 
  by 
  the 
  "filtrable 
  viruses," 
  

   "agents," 
  "bacteriophages," 
  and 
  what 
  not, 
  in 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  

   much 
  interested 
  in 
  recent 
  years. 
  

  

  I 
  do 
  not 
  propose 
  to 
  enter 
  at 
  length 
  on 
  the 
  old 
  controversy 
  between 
  

   vitalism 
  and 
  mechanism. 
  Pathologists 
  might 
  with 
  advantage 
  have 
  

   taken 
  a 
  greater 
  share 
  in 
  it 
  than 
  they 
  have, 
  for 
  it 
  would 
  take 
  a 
  hardened 
  

   mechanician 
  to 
  maintain 
  his 
  faith 
  in 
  face 
  of 
  our 
  daily 
  experience 
  of 
  

   repair 
  adaptation 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  other 
  purposive 
  compensations 
  for 
  injury 
  

   of 
  which 
  the 
  body 
  is 
  so 
  abundantly 
  capable. 
  Unfortunately 
  our 
  

   facts 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  widely 
  known 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  felt 
  inclined 
  to 
  

   discuss 
  the 
  question. 
  As 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  see, 
  the 
  attempt 
  to 
  "explain 
  life 
  

   by 
  chemistry 
  and 
  physics" 
  has 
  completely 
  failed. 
  It 
  was 
  thought 
  at 
  

   one 
  time 
  that 
  if 
  only 
  the 
  microscope 
  could 
  be 
  made 
  to 
  magnify 
  

  

  1 
  President's 
  address, 
  section 
  of 
  pathology, 
  Royal 
  Society 
  of 
  Medicine. 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  

   the 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  Royal 
  Society 
  of 
  Medicine, 
  November, 
  1928. 
  Published 
  also, 
  abridged 
  and 
  revised, 
  

   in 
  supplement 
  to 
  Nature, 
  Jan. 
  19, 
  1929. 
  

  

  82322—30 
  22 
  323 
  

  

  