INTRODUCTION 5 



to dissipate the false distinctions which have been the 

 outgrowth of imperfect understanding of facts which 

 were made more obscure by dogmatic definitions. 



II 



The present volume is the outcome of an effort to 

 harmonize a large amount of clinical and experimental 

 data by the application of certain biologic principles, 

 these data having been collected in the course of re- 

 searches which have continued through many years. 

 This work began with an attempt to solve the problem 

 of surgical shock, from which it progressed further 

 into the field of disease phenomena, and finally, into 

 the domain of so-called " normal" processes. This 

 study seems to have shown that the causation and 

 origin of most normal and pathologic phenomena differ 

 in no fundamental respect. 



One result of this research has been the accumula- 

 tion of evidence tending to show that in the distribu- 

 tion of contact ceptors, of chemical ceptors, of the 

 mechanisms for overcoming pyogenic infections and 

 for blood clotting; in the distribution of pain areas 

 and of special reflexes we have a phylogenetic summary 

 of the evolution of man. 



The first practical application of these studies was 

 the formulation of a method of prevention of shock 

 through anoci association, or the absence of harmful 

 stimuli. The principle of anoci association was de- 

 duced from hypotheses based upon experiments. For 

 the key which might lead us to an explanation and 

 further application we turned to the past history of 

 the species. Here we found not only a satisfactory 



