ANTITOXIC ACTIOX OF EXERCISE. 27 



by the introduction of certain tissue-juices into the general cir- 

 culation, for it was shown by Wooldridge tliat thyroid juice lias 

 the power of destroying anthrax poison. Increase of the circu- 

 lation in certain organs will almost certainly increase their 

 tissue-change, will throw their juices or the products of their 

 functional activity into the general circulation, and thus influ- 

 ence the invasion or progress of disease. As I have already 

 mentioned, w^e are able to influence the circulation in muscles 

 both by voluntary exertion and by massage, and we should 

 expect that both of these measures would influence the con- 

 stituents of the blood generally. Such, indeed, appears to be 

 the case, for J. Iv. Mitchell* has found that after massage the 

 number of blood corpuscles in the circulation is very consider- 

 ably increased. We can thus understand why exercise either 

 of the body or its parts may increase its power to resist infective 

 diseases. 



Had time allowed it, I had intended to discuss the modifica- 

 tions of the heart and vessels by the introduction of remedies 

 into the circulation, the power of drugs to slow or strengthen, 

 to quicken or weaken the power of the heart, to contract or 

 relax the arterioles, to raise or lower the blood pressure, to 

 relieve pain or to remove dropsy; but to do this would require 

 time far exceedini:^ that of a sincrle hour. Moreover, the 

 methods and results of such research were admirably expounded 

 to the College by Dr. Leech in his Crocnian lecture, and I have 

 tiierefore thought I should be better fulfilling the wish of 

 Harvey that the orator of the year should exhort the Eellows 

 and Members of the College to search out the secrets of nature 

 by way of experiment by directing their attention to some fields 

 of research which have received at present little attention, but 

 promise results of great practical value. 



Lastly, I have to exhort you to continue in mutual love and 

 affection amongst yourselves ; and it seems to me that the best 

 way of doing this is to direct your attention to the examples of 

 Harvey and of our late President, whose death w^e deplore to- 

 day. They were beloved by their fellows while they lived, 

 their loss was lamented wdien they died, and they have left 



* Ar.erican Journal of Medical Science, May, 1894. 



