AND PERSONALITY 



Basal metabolism includes not only the metabolism of 

 all the nucleated cells of the organs and tissues of the body 

 but also the oxidation in the voluntary muscles required to 

 maintain the warm-blooded state. Adaptive metabolism is 

 the oxidation response from mere awareness to outburst 

 energy in fight or flight or in the expression of the emotions. 



From the foregoing it would seem that in man and ani- 

 mals there are two kinds of mechanism for the control of 

 oxidation. One system possesses the mechanism of the 

 amoeba, in which oxidation is controlled by enzymes and 

 catalysts. This system applies equally to all the nucleated 

 cells in man and animals. 



In the other system, which is constructed on the principle 

 of the carbon lamp, the brain furnishes the positive charge, 

 and the red blood cells, through the mechanical energy 

 given by the contraction of the heart, supply the negative 

 charge. Thus are provided the quick and powerful varia- 

 tions in the speed of oxidation, hence in the speed of mus- 

 cular contraction from a mere muscle tone to the rush of 

 the lion or the escape of the zebra. 



Thus the intelligence, power, and personality of man and 

 animals would seem to be dependent on the absolute and the 

 relative sizes of the brain, the heart and blood volume, the 

 thyroid gland, and the adrenal-sympathetic system. 



35 



