JANUAEY 14, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



69 



zation has been previously practised by other 

 workers, but as I have never seen mention 

 made of it, I bring it to the attention of bac- 

 teriologists. 



Henry IST. Jones 

 Syracuse University 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Cancer, Its Cause and Treatment. By L. Dun- 

 can BuLKLEY^ M.D. E"ew York, Paul B. 

 Hoeber, 1915. 



Various writers, especially Williams in his 

 book on the natural history of cancer, have 

 attributed great significance to the mode of 

 life, especially to the diet as a factor in the 

 origin of cancer. He pointed out that cancer 

 is much less frequent among races which are 

 vegetarian. Dr. BuUdey defends in his 

 lectures a similar thesis: cancer (both car- 

 cinoma and sarcoma) is due to errors in the 

 mode of living, not only to an overindulgence 

 in a meat diet, leading to the production of 

 nitrogenous poisons which are not properly 

 eliminated, but also to the consumption of 

 tea, coffee and alcohol. In consequence the 

 saliva becomes acid, increased putrefaction 

 takes place in the large intestines, the glands 

 with internal secretion do not functionate 

 well, the kidneys cease to secrete sufficiently, 

 and the body fluids which bathe the cells be- 

 come abnormal (especially too acid), thus 

 stimulating certain embryologically aberrant 

 cells to cancerous growth. Other factors, like 

 traumatism play only a secondary part. In 

 support of his views the author cites statis- 

 tical data which show that frequency of can- 

 cer is greatest where so-called civilization has 

 farthest advanced, that the increase in cancer 

 which is observed everywhere is real and 

 caused by a corresponding increase in false 

 living; that experimentally it has been shown 

 that the growth of (transplanted) cancer in 

 animals can be influenced through certain 

 diets; that clinically, cancer has been cured 

 by the author in a considerable number of 

 cases by instituting an appropriate mode of 

 living aided by the use of drugs stimulating 

 elimination of waste products and certain 

 other procedures. 



It is impossible to enter into a detailed 

 critical analysis of this position. We must, 

 however, point out that throughout the 

 author's argumentation no sharp distinction 

 is made between fact and hypothesis. Facts 

 opposed to his thesis are ignored or minimized 

 in their importance. We may mention a few 

 objections which might be raised: We do not 

 know at the present time how much the mode 

 of living, external conditions and hereditary 

 factors influence the distribution of cancer 

 among different people. We know that con- 

 stant irritation of certain kinds may produce 

 cancer in a large percentage of persons, pro- 

 vided the irritation is active over a suffi- 

 ciently long period of time. We have shown 

 that on the same mouse farm in Granby, 

 under the same vegetarian diet, certain 

 strains of mice are almost exempt from can- 

 cer, while in other strains, as a result of 

 hereditary peculiarities, the large majority of 

 all females become affected by cancer of the 

 breast. It is now known that the presence of 

 embryologically displaced cell nests is not 

 necessary for the development of cancer. 



There occur in addition to the main argu- 

 ments not infrequently statements which are 

 open to criticism. To cite a few : " The cells 

 themselves must be influenced ultimately by 

 that mysterious force which we will call life, 

 which ends with its extinction from the body 

 as a whole and which is ultimately related 

 to nerve action." The thyroid is said to be 

 of great importance in governing the calcium 

 metabolism. The same principles are said to 

 hold good for the treatment of skin diseases 

 and for cancer in general, because both con- 

 cern aberrations in the behavior of epithelial 

 cells; but internal organs like pancreas and 

 liver, although they are of epithelial char- 

 acter, nevertheless do differ in their behavior 

 from the skin. Postoperative recurrences of 

 cancer are, according to the author, due to a 

 transformation of formerly healthy cells into 

 cancer cells as a result of faulty metabolism 

 and not, as is almost generally assumed, to 

 the incomplete removal of the original can- 

 cer. Leo Loeb 



