APPENDIX A 273 



the erosive action of the chorionic trophoblast phago- 

 cytic, and, as is said in my paper, Handley states that the 

 multinuclear cell of cancer appears when met with resist- 

 ance such as the blood possesses. That the cells " move " 

 is true, but their movement, which can be measured, is 

 the thrust of growth, and room is obtained for that by 

 the cell catalyst and mechanical pressure. 



Emery's views upon X-ray phenomena are to be 

 found in less than a dozen lines. He remarks that the 

 cracks seen in X-ray dermatitis are portals of infection. 

 Such infections as entert hat way are, however, those 

 which can be proved to be known agents, and the theory 

 ignores the facts that long before cancer is recognizable 

 there is, underlying the irritated epithelium, the true 

 pre-cancerous stage of rarified connective-tissue elements. 

 Would the author affirm that continually sterilized hands 

 exposed for long periods to X-rays would not become 

 malignant ? 



The argument based upon cage infection does not 

 carry much weight. Captive animals are already in an 

 unnatural condition. It is notorious that their general 

 powers of resistance, and especially their powers of 

 repair, are weakened. If many of them break down with 

 malignant disease, what is the most that can be logically 

 inferred ? It is that in bad conditions and poor health 

 some infection, if it is an infection, may cause irrita- 

 tion and malignancy. But no one ever denied that 

 infections can be irritative causes of epithelial over- 

 growth. 



Another argument is that malignant tissue growing 

 alongside normal epithelium shows that the latter has a 

 power of resistance. It is difficult to sec what is in- 

 ferred from this. It is to be expected from all the 

 18 



