MAN AN ADAPTIVE 

 MECHANISM 



INTRODUCTION 



WITH the advance in natural science, which was 

 inaugurated by the general acceptance of Darwin's 

 theory of evolution, a tendency has developed to 

 regard health and disease alik.e as natural phenomena 

 subject to the same laws as those which govern other 

 physical processes. 



If man, like other animals, is the product of evolu- 

 tion, then his existing form and the functions of his 

 various organs and tissues must have been determined 

 by that age-long struggle. Disease, the failure of 

 the organism to adapt itself completely, and health 

 are alike expressions of natural processes compre- 

 hensive terms which designate the net result of many 

 trials of interacting, imperfect mechanisms, evoked 

 by nature's emergencies, and accepted, suffered or 

 cast off, as they have proved useful, harmful or in- 

 effective in the combat, but all working in common, 

 in sickness or in health, toward a more complete 

 adaptation to environment. 



