160 INJURY, RECOVERY, AND DEATH 



As a way out of this difficulty, the writer has sug- 

 gested^* that the slow penetration of salts may produce 

 effects quite different from those produced by 

 rapid penetration. 



This difficulty completely disappears if we adopt the 

 standpoint outlined above in developing a dynamical 

 theory of antagonism. From this point of view, we 

 regard the slowness of the penetration of salts in balanced 

 solutions, not as the cause of the antagonistic action but 

 rather the result of it; or we may regard both the slow 

 penetration and the increased length of life (or growth, 

 etc.) by which we measure antagonism, as the results 

 of certain life processes which are directly acted on by 

 the antagonistic substances. 



The essential feature of the explanation lies in the 

 behavior of these life processes rather than in the manner 

 or rate of penetration. 



We assume,, as explained above, that certain life pro- 

 cesses may consist of consecutive reactions of the type 



— >-S — >A — >M — ^B 



in which M is a substance which determines the rate of 

 penetration of salts and the electrical resistance of 

 the protoplasm. 



If the antagonistic substances are NaCl and CaCla, 

 it appears that CaCl accelerates the reaction A — > M, 

 while both A — ^M and M — >B are inhibited by a salt 

 compound formed by the union of NaCl and CaClj with 

 a constituent of the protoplasm. 



From this standpoint the slow penetration of antag- 

 onistic substances should not have unfavorable results 

 provided these substances are properly balanced at the 



^0/. Osterhout (1911, 1912, A, C; 1913, B; 1916, B; 1917, B) . 



