November 24, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



703 



tion. A tissue unduly excited will, in 

 time, disturb the harmonious adjustment 

 of certain other tissues producing a chain 

 of results which induces an abnormal or 

 pathological effect upon the organism, as a 

 whole, and medical science is invoked to 

 alleviate the disturbed condition and to re- 

 store the normal adjustment. In other in- 

 stances the hyperexcitability may be local- 

 ized in a given tissue, as with a benignant 

 tumor without apparent interference with 

 the normal functions of the other parts. 

 Pathology is physiology gone wrong and, 

 although it has been emphasized before, it 

 is well to emphasize it again : that to under- 

 stand the abnormal, it is necessary to have 

 as complete a knowledge as possible of the 

 normal organism. 



If it is the province of pathology to point 

 out the differences between the normal and 

 abnormal, it is the very important duty of 

 medical science to attempt the restoration 

 of the abnormal to the normal. If it is 

 important for the surgeon to know thor- 

 oughly the form and structure of the 

 tissues in order that abnormal or diseased 

 parts may be removed with the hope of 

 bringing about a normal condition again; 

 then is it equally important for the med- 

 ical practitioner to know thoroughly the 

 functions of the tissues and their system 

 of cooperation, if he is to restore the dis- 

 eased organism to its normal physiolog- 

 ical standard. Therapeutics must be in- 

 voked with a knowledge of those agents 

 which will stimulate the weakened parts to 

 their normal tone, or which will soothe the 

 overirritable or overexcited tissues to their 

 natural calm. Without anatomy we may 

 assume there could not be proper surgical 

 procedure; we may equally assume that 

 without physiology there could not be sat- 

 isfactory medical practise. Indeed, the 

 practitioner's service is but an extended 

 laboratory course in physiology. 



Diseases are due to a disturbance of 

 physiological cooperation either internally 

 through the interrelationship of the differ- 

 ent tissues or externally from the intro- 

 duction of material foreign to the organ- 

 ism. In veterinary practise there is 

 perhaps no more striking example of dis- 

 turbed cooperation than in azoturia. Why 

 should renewed work after a day or two of 

 idleness cause such a physiological up- 

 heaval in the horse as to make it necessary 

 to record so large a percentage of fatalities 1 

 The answer will probably be found in the 

 disturbed adjustment of the circulation, 

 muscular and renal tissues, caused, per- 

 haps, through chemical substances intro- 

 duced through the digestive system and 

 influenced more or less by external condi- 

 tions. Why are other domesticated ani- 

 mals exempt from this affection? The 

 hydrocephalic dummy, parturient paresis 

 in cattle, and many other diseases when 

 finally worked out may be found to be due 

 to the production of some chemical sub- 

 stance developed in one tissue, which, cir- 

 culating to other tissues, excites them di- 

 rectly or reflexly to such an extent that the 

 whole adjustment is thrown into more or 

 less disorder. 



In the urine of man, more than a trace 

 of indican is pathological. Why should 

 the relatively large amount of this sub- 

 stance usually found in the urine of the 

 horse be regarded as a normal condition ? 



In order to solve the problems of the 

 normal as well as the abnormal, it would 

 appear essential to work out the physiology 

 of each species of the domesticated animal 

 distinctly. While many of the conditions 

 may be fundamental to all, there are some 

 characters which are peculiar to each type. 

 Physiology is not all internal; external 

 conditions must be reckoned with. Diet, 

 habit and environment all contribute to 



