CURING BY COMBATING THE CAUSE. 283 



From a consideration of this law, to which 

 there is no exception, and because of a recog- 

 nition of the important fact that when the cure 

 of malaria is brought about with so-called large 

 doses of quinine the substance is actually pres- 

 ent in the blood in smaller amount than is 

 requisite for the paralysis or destruction of the 

 malarial parasite, some investigators have come 

 to the conclusion that quinine cures because 

 the small doses stimulate the cells of the human 

 body perhaps those of the blood and thus 

 effect a " specific " counteraction. Over against 

 the mystical idea of a " specific " stimulus it 

 is to be always remembered that particular 

 stimuli are also general protoplasmic stimuli. 

 Under some circumstances it must happen that 

 not the desired stimulation of the body-cells 

 will take place, but that instead the parasitic 

 cells will be stimulated and consequent harm 

 result. There are indeed cases of malaria in 

 which quinine is injurious even in large doses, 

 and Steudel and Kiichel are of opinion that 

 sometimes malarial cases may be directly pre- 

 cipitated by small or medium doses of quinine ; 

 in latent malaria, that is, the quinine given as 

 a preventive acts as a stimulus to the parasites.' 

 The latter thereupon react to the stimulus and 

 provoke a case of fever, the quantity of quinine 

 present in the blood being all the time insuf- 



