THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
[Annual Address by the President.] 
THE RESISTIVE POWERS OF THE ANIMAL 
ORGANISM. 
DR. JAS. E. THOMPSON.* 
My deep appreciation of the honor conferred on me by this learned 
society constrains me to attempt to follow the example of former presi- 
dents in reading an address as free as possible from abstruse techni- 
calities. 
Nevertheless, it is perhaps excusable, if I claim the privilege of edu- 
cational and professional bias and allow myself to review some phases 
of scientific work that are exercising the minds of biologists and pathol- 
ogists at the present epoch. 
These problems have more a medical and surgical interest than a 
peculiar scientific one, but I believe that their biological bearings will 
relieve them of monotony and bring them within the grasp of all of 
the members of the association. 
My theme today is “The Resistive Powders of the Animal Organism.” 
By this I mean the correlation of physiological processes that is neces- 
sary for the continuation of life. 
In order to review the subject in a systematic manner, it will be 
necessary to consider the physiological processes under two distinct 
and different conditions: (1) When affected by normal stimuli of ordi- 
nary or excessive intensity. (2) When affected by abnormal stimuli, 
such as would be produced by the action of micro-organisms and their 
toxins. 
It is only within comparatively recent years that the study of physio- 
logical pathology has received the attention that its importance de- 
manded. Previously, pathology was studied in its grosser aspects, as 
pathological anatomy, by inspection of the actual organs, either by the 
naked eye or microscopically, without much attention being paid to the 
altered physiological conditions responsible for such changes. Grad- 
ually, however, by the close application of physics and chemistry to the 
study of pathology, diseased processes, were found to be logical results 
of altered physiological conditions; and, further, it was found that 
'■Professor of Surgery, University of Texas, Galveston. 
