PRODUCTS OF DISEASE. 159 



while those ill understood conditions, which pri- 

 marily constitute an unhealthy or debilitated system, 

 that languid or feverish circulation, that loss of 

 tone in the nervous and muscular systems, that 

 depressed condition in the organs of absorption and 

 excretion, may favour their development. 



Still, it may be said, what becomes of the myriads 

 of eggs which never find such a favourable resi- 

 dence, and which never develop ? do these perish ? 

 And if so, is not there an immense creation of 

 vitality for no end ? Is not the provision for life, 

 as it respects these low beings, of which so few 

 comparatively become matured, thrown, as it were, 

 away ? And may we not here, as in other depart- 

 ments of the animal kingdom, expect that the nu- 

 merical ratio, the loss, and the reproduction of 

 beings will be in accordance with each other ? If 

 it pleases the Creator thus to secure from annihila- 

 tion these entozoa, why not ? Who knows to what 

 extent of destruction these granular ova are liable ? 



The plan may be, and we say is, one of perfect 

 wisdom, and until we know every circumstance, we 

 cannot in fairness ask such a question. Besides, we 

 see the very same law as it respects the continuance 

 of plants. The thistle perishes, but not until it has 

 scattered thousands of its seeds around it, and given 

 them to every breeze. Of these seeds all do not 

 germinate ; numbers are destroyed : they form the 

 food of birds and various creatures, and it is in the 

 multiplicity of them that the continuance of the 



