WHAT IS PHYSICAL LIFE 



It not only pushes aside its neighbors, 

 but invades their tissues and by intruding 

 between nerves causes agonizing pains. 

 Meantime it retains enough of its meta- 

 zoan powers to give rise to organized 

 growths or tumors with blood-vessels and 

 other tissues, but with such poor vitality 

 that these growths ultimately break down 

 into repulsive and highly poisonous ulcers. 

 Unlike the old unicellular enemies, it cares 

 little for hygiene, for it counts emperors 

 and queens among its victims as well as 

 laborers and washerwomen, destroying 

 those also who live moral lives just the 

 same as those who do not. That its origin 

 lies in the deepest processes of cell nutri- 

 tion is shown, as we have already stated, 

 by its occurrence in all vertebrates, not 

 excepting fishes, for trout die of cancer 

 as well as we ourselves. 



These being the melancholy facts, about 

 our only recourse is to detect the presence 

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