CONCLUSION. 287 



from them. New cells may be completely formed at 

 the expense of this blastema, without having their 

 source in one cell more than in another. According 

 to Robin's theory, the pus-corpuscles, which #re a new 

 creation, are produced in this way : they result from 

 the exudation of a fluid which issues from all the 

 organs, and are not produced by the enlargement, 

 reproduction, and budding of pre-existent cells, as it 

 is stated in other theories, and notably in those of 

 Schiff and Cohnheim. 



When this is established, it follows that all diseases 

 have their origin in a chemical or physiological 

 change in the blastema, which at one time produces 

 normal cells, adapted to replace those which die from 

 natural decay, and at another engenders diseased cells, 

 which are dangerous, either owing to their too great 

 number, as in septicemia, or from their peculiar nature, 

 as in tubercle and cancer. Here we will quote Robin's 

 words : " The cause of morbid disturbance arises from 

 the changes which take place in the quantity and 

 nature of the immediate constituents of the actual 

 substance of the tissues and secretions. These changes 



O 



make the development of minute spores possible. The 

 multiplication of microscopic plants is a secondary 

 phenomenon; not the scientific cause which actually 

 determines it. The presence of the vegetable parasite 

 is a complication which has been mistaken for the 

 cause " (Ilistoire naturelle des vegetaux parasites de 

 I'hommt, 1853, p. 287) 



