18 LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



cards for the rest of his life. Kolia was fond of 

 muscular exercises, such as gymnastics, wrestling, etc. 

 Ilia, younger and therefore weaker, was constantly 

 humiliated, and his pride kept him away from physical 

 amusements. Thus, by means of elimination, he 

 became gradually isolated from surrounding influences. 

 But, at that time, no new element had intervened in 

 his daily life and he spent his existence in the gentle 

 warmth of his mother's tenderness, absorbed in his 

 childish games and studies. 



