1899] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 337 



a body of men divides up the work of a community. By 

 reason of this division of labor they are able to do their 

 work better; they are specialists. To illustrate : the liver 

 is an organ whose cells are specialized in the secretion of 

 bile, glycogen, etc.; while the periosteum might be call- 

 ed an organ having cells specialized in the secretion of 

 bone forming materials. So when the bones of the old 

 are fractured they do not readily knit, because the cells 

 specialized in the secretion of bone-forming compounds 

 have almost entirely disappeared. It is the ability on the 

 part of cells to become specialists, capable of doing one 

 thing extremely well, that imparts to the organism im- 

 munity from certain diseases. The cells, learning that 

 bacteria tend to remove the water from them, endeavor to 

 fix the water in themselves. They may do this by the 

 elaboration of some chemical compound that has a greater 

 affinity for the water of combination than have the bac- 

 teria. Be that as it may, the bacteria cannot get the water 

 necessary for their growth. 



I believe if it is through a change in the main com- 

 pound of the body that it becomes possible for disease to 

 manifest itself, whether it be an atrophy or hypertrophy 

 of the tissues resultant from the action of bacteria, chem- 

 ical or natural forces, the more stable we can fix, seal or 

 combine the water in the tissue, the more efiective will be 

 its power of resisting decay. 



From my experiments with the teeth I believe it is pos- 

 sible to fix, seal or combine the water in the teeth so as 

 to be inaccessible for a time to bacteria. 



It has already been proved that certain conditions did 

 confer immunity for a time to the digestive action of bac- 

 teria ; that some teeth were less susceptible than others; 

 that decay oft times is checked and the layer of decalci- 

 fied dentine rendered immune to the further action of 

 bacteria ; that while the cracks in the enamel and the 

 spaces between the cells are large enough for the entrance 



