382 BACTERIOLOGY. 



place in the form of inflammations can be 

 made serviceable for curative purposes without 

 there being anything specific about the pro- 

 cess. In the chapter upon the healing of 

 disease in general, I have already men- 

 tioned the fact that by evoking similar re- 

 actions from the body through the use of 

 physical agents, it is possible to arouse to tem- 

 porarily exalted activity the natural protective 

 forces residing in the local cells, the wandering 

 cells and the active chemical bodies of the tis- 

 sue fluids. In the same way the rise of bodily 

 temperature, if it does not overstep certain 

 limits may have a good effect upon the course 

 of the disease, and the idea of the older phy- 

 sicians who regarded fever and inflammation as 

 the healing efforts of nature, may thus in the 

 light of experiment turn out to be, to a certain 

 extent, correct. The old view that an excre- 

 tion of the " materia peccans " takes place by 

 means of the kidneys, intestine and stomach 

 is, likewise to be regarded as correct within 

 certain limits (p. 202). All symptoms of this 

 character are the outward signs of a nat- 

 ural and necessary reaction towards an im- 

 pulse that tends to liberate energy. Symp- 

 toms in themselves may be either good or 

 bad. How far they are actually beneficial or 

 injurious depends upon the point of view 



