THROUGH THE VESSELS. 



213 



I will now venture to state briefly the principal con- 

 clusions arrived at in this section : 



1. That the gland-cell is not, as a general rule, 

 destroyed when it secretes. 



2. That the poisons " eliminated " by the skin and 

 kidneys are probably in a state of solution. 



3. That the poisons of contagious diseases are not 

 soluble, but consist of living germs which move of 

 themselves, but which cannot be " eliminated " from 

 the blood by epithelial or other cells. 



4. That so far from there being any evidence of the 

 epithelial cells eliminating contagious poisons, the 

 living particles of the latter interfere with the action 

 of the cells, and many are destroyed by them. 



5. That the function of the columnar epithelial 

 cells is to draw substances from the intestine and pass 

 them on towards the blood, and that therefore it is 

 most improbable that these cells should take part in 

 " eliminating " anything whatever from the blood in 

 health or in disease. 



The passage of Disease Germs through the Vessels. 

 The observations made in the preceding sections will 

 prepare the reader for the remark that the minute 

 particles of bioplasm which constitute disease germs, 

 after having multiplied in the capillaries through 

 which the circulation had completely ceased and 

 made their way into the surrounding tissue and 

 multiplied there, would easily pass in the intervals be- 

 tween epithelial cells and thus reach the free surface ; 



Q 



