104 



ORGANIC DEPENDENCE AND DISEASE 



that in host-shells which have been well riddled by these 

 tubes and where the channels are closely crowded together 

 in numbers, there is very rarely any evidence that one 

 crosses another or even touches its neighbors. 



THE DISTINCTION BETAVEEN PEOTOZOAN AND 

 METAZOAN PARASITISM 



Modern epidemiology 

 and germ pathology 

 which are founded on the 

 recognition of the play 

 of the protozoan or pro- 

 tophytic parasite in dis- 

 turbing the health of hu- 

 man beings, have at times 

 indulged in too hasty ex- 

 pression as to the prev- 

 alence of protoplastic 

 germ disease throughout 

 the history of life on 

 the earth. Germ infec- 

 tion, in the sense of pro- 

 toplastic protozoan and 

 protoph^^tic adjustment, 

 is universal ; it enters 

 into every phase of life 

 and into every individual 

 of the animal and plant 

 world. That is, all life 

 from highest to lowest is 

 shot through with condi- 

 tions of disorder result- 

 ing from such parasitic 

 adjustments. There is no 

 exception. The picture 



Fig. 104. The Silurian scorpioid crustacean 

 Eurypterus fischeri from Rootzikull, Russia, 

 showing an overgrowth of agglomerated 

 tubules which seem to have spread from 

 joint to joint but clear all articulating sur- 

 faces; a symbiotic and perhaps parasitic 

 growth whose nature is not fully under- 

 stood. 



