182 SYMBIOSIS 



An interesting problem arises in connection with the " Pachy- 

 ostose " of the Sirenians : 



D'apres le Prof. Abel, en effet, cette pachyostose constituerait " ^^ne 

 cuirasse interne, une defense protectrice contre les fractures, et serait le reiiiilat 

 de r action des flats sur les os des Sireniens." 



This explanation does not satisfy Dr. Larger, who demurs : 



Mais pourquoi, seuls de tous les Thalassotheriens, les Sirtniens auraient- 

 ils besoin de cette fameuse cuirasse interne ? Et encore : 1'action des flols 

 n'est-elle done pas la meme pour tous ? 



But it is all not so much a question of what is necessary or 

 expeditious, but rather a matter of what the physiological 

 economy of the organism can afford what Nature, with the 

 means thus offered her, can afford to do by way of making the 

 best of " a bad job" all of which depends very largely upon 

 feeding habits past and present. 



In every one of my books I have emphasised the fact that loss 

 of symmetry is a grave symptom of Pathogenesis, and I find 

 myself in complete agreement with Dr. Larger when he says 

 that: 



I'Asym^trie cranio-faciale est un stigmate degeneratif grave, incontest- 

 able et incontest6. 



This asymmetry, we learn, is a feature amongst the Cetacea, 

 and it occurs amongst men always a more or less grave symptom 

 of disease. I also agree with the author that man must serve 

 us as the prototype in the study of degeneration. And here is 

 perhaps the place to mention that Dr. J. Bland Sutton, in his 

 Evolution and Disease, after a fairly wide study of the 

 zoological distribution of disease, reaches the conclusion that 

 many diseases, supposed to be distinct in man and the lower 

 animals, will one day be found to depend upon the same cause 

 which cause I believe to be none other than the parasitic diathesis. 



In speaking " de la Degenerescence en general," Dr. Larger 

 expresses the view that the 



loi de solidarite ou de correlation des Stigmates de la Degenerescence 

 n'est, par le fait, que 1'application a la pathologic de " la loi de Correlation 

 des caracteres (normaux) de Cuvier." 



This deserves mention because " correlation " is admittedly 

 a most important matter one, moreover, which has not hitherto 

 had paid to it the attention it deserves. I would add that in 

 order to arrive at a full comprehension of the subject, it is indis- 

 pensable to take bio-economic correlation duly into account. 



