THE LAWS OF PROTOPLASM 125 



human race was exposed to the germs that caused 

 this disease. The mortality results were by no 

 means uniform. In some cities the mortality was 

 very high at the beginning and gradually receded. 

 But this was not at all uniform. The duration 

 of the epidemic was very variable. These and 

 other important conclusions deduced from a com- 

 pilation of a large number of statistics indicate 

 that there was no correlation between mortality 

 and the various repressive measures such as pre- 

 vention of public gatherings, compulsory wearing 

 of masks, etc. It has become plainly evident that 

 the usual public health measures do not explain 

 why the inhabitants of one city showed a low 

 mortality rate and a quick recovery while a neigh- 

 boring city had an entirely different experience. 



Upon this point one eminent authority writes as 

 follows: "The conclusion stands near at hand, not 

 proven but strongly Indicated by the evidence now 

 available, that the primary factor In causing the 

 observed variation between different communities, 

 in respect of reaction to the influenza epidemic, 

 was the biologic constitution or organic fitness of 

 the people making up the population of these com- 

 munities. Communities in some degrees organi- 

 cally unsound, as indicated by relatively high 

 normal death rates from phthisis, organic heart 

 disease, and nephritis, were less able to meet sue- 



