LIFE AND MIND 



of the daily tasks of the chemist. Analogous proc- 

 esses occur regularly in living cells. Again, when 

 the chemist wishes to finish his filtration quickly, 

 he uses filters which have a large surface. "In liv- 

 ing protoplasms, this condition is very well fulfilled 

 by the foam-like structure which affords an im- 

 mense surface in a very small space." In the labora- 

 tory the chemist mixes his substances by stirring. 

 The body chemist achieves the same result by the 

 streaming of protoplasm. The cells know what they 

 want, and how to attain it, as clearly as the chemist 

 does. The intelligence of the living body, or what 

 we must call such for want of a better term, is shown 

 in scores of ways — by the means it takes to pro- 

 tect itself against microbes, by the antitoxins that 

 it forms. Indeed, if we knew all that our bodies 

 know, what mysteries would be revealed to us ! 



IV 



Life goes up-stream — goes against the tendency 

 to a static equilibrium in matter; decay and death 

 go down. What is it in the body that struggles 

 against poisons and seeks to neutralize their effects? 

 What is it that protects the body against a second 

 attack of certain diseases, making it immune? 

 Chemical changes, undoubtedly, but what brings 

 about the chemical changes? The body is a colony 

 of living units called cells, that behaves much like a 

 colony of insects when it takes measures to protect 



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