64 Forty Years Beagling 



natural defect, Dr. Mills to what amounts to in- 

 fection. 



"Having now, I trust, clearly paved the way for 

 an examination of Dr. Mills' evidence for his side 

 of the question, and my own, I propose to go more 

 deeply into the matter. Let us take Dr. Mills first. 

 The hypothesis on which Dr. Mills combats my 

 views is that during the placental connection of the 

 foetus, begot by mesalliance, the mother becomes 

 affected by the foetal blood and metabolism. Your 

 readers are all aware what is meant by foetal blood, 

 but to some the word metabolism may prove a 

 stumbhng block. I shall therefore explain it, as in 

 what I am about to say, it will have occasionally to 

 be used. 



"Dr. Mills explains the word as 'cell life,' which 

 hardly in my opinion gives its English synonym, 

 and which hardly explains itself; for we find that 

 metabolism is of two kinds, viz., anabolism and 

 katabolism, or a building up and a breaking down, 

 thus the cell life which goes on during foetal life, 

 is principally of an anabolic nature. In youth it is 

 also anabolic with some katabolism, at puberty it is 

 pretty evenly balanced and in old age it becomes 

 katabolic. Let us therefore take the metabolism 

 which goes on in the non-pregnant female at pu- 

 berty. Cell Hfe is dependent on food, just as the 



