94 EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES 



is, as a rule, brought to bear upon man under 

 circumstances making it very difficult to judge 

 correctly of the processes occurring during treat- 

 ment, has in the last decades worked chiefly 

 with simple bodies. On the other hand, I 

 would remind you that in the prescriptions of 

 the physicians of the middle of last century, a 

 predilection for long and complex prescriptions 

 was evident ; and although nowadays this predi- 

 lection may appear to us obsolete, yet it must 

 surely have sprung from a good power of obser- 

 vation, enhanced by rich personal experience. 

 Although this former practice of therapeutic 

 procedure may have overshot the mark, it would 

 yet appear to contain a nucleus of truth, and 

 it has certainly received the approval of science 

 through these recent discoveries. 



The importance of combined treatment is 

 shown, lastly, in the phenomena of resistance 

 already discussed. The fact that by frequently 

 repeated administration of not completely 

 sterilising doses, there is gradually acquired a 

 resistance to the substance in question, makes it 

 especially desirable that the first attack should 

 be as complete as possible. This object, from 

 what I have previously said, may probably best 

 be carried out by a suitable combination of 



