LIFE AND ALKALINITY OF THE BLOOD. 787 



stitucnts capable of disintegrating the morbid cellular elements, 

 trypsin, fibrinogen, oxidizing* substance, and alkaline salts, are 

 supplied to the blood, and these, under normal circumstances, 

 should cause disappearance of the growth. But unfortunately 

 such a result is but rarely reached even under the violent adre- 

 nal stimulation which Coley's toxins must cause. How account 

 for this? The Roentgen rays, as suggested by the results 

 already obtained, seem to us to supply one of the missing 

 factors upon which the curative process depends, i.e., a local 

 accumulation of heat-energy and a congestive process through 

 which neutrophile leucocytes (owing to their phagocytic and 

 fibrinogenic properties) are caused to immigrate into the growth 

 in large numbers, to convert the degenerated cellular elements 

 into benign products. Here again, however, the curative proc- 

 ess requires alkaline salts in addition to those normally utilized 

 by the organism, in order to insure the full haemolytic activity 

 of the tryptic intraphagocytic digestion. The frequent use -of 

 saline solution thus asserts itself as the remaining measure in- 

 dicated to insure success in the bloodless treatment of malig- 

 nant tumors. 



In the light of our views, it seems evident that, notwith- 

 standing its simplicity, the use of saline solution represents 

 one of the most valuable measures in the domain of thera- 

 peutics, because it defeats the most ubiquitous and efficient 

 morbid influence with which the organism has to contend. On 

 the whole, our analysis of the question seems to us to have 

 shown that: 



1. In all febrile diseases the alkaline salts of the Hood and 

 cells are rapidly utilized, and, the organism depending upon the 

 salts ingested with foods for its supply, the anorexia and the re- 

 duced diet incident upon the disease tend greatly to aggravate the 

 morbid process. 



2. The primary effect of deficiency of alkaline salts in the 

 liJood being to inhibit nutrition, impair the efficiency of, and finally 

 arrest, the organism's protective functions, it constitutes one of the 

 most active causes of death. 



3. The use of saline solution may be beneficial even in des- 

 perate toxcemic cases when the functions of the adrenal system have 

 reached the lowest stage of insufficiency. 



50 



