RESISTANCE OF THE BODY 
8 7 
Yet this safety is not always complete, because some 
persons have recurring attacks of infectious diseases. 
This is especially true in diphtheria. 
There seems to be some power in the robust, healthy, 
strong body which is absent in the weak and “ailing” 
or in the body “below par,” as the physicians say. 
Whatever this power is it may well be referred to as 
“vital resistance.” 
Dr. William Sedgwick says, “There is, however, no 
quantitative measure of vital resistance; but when it 
is regarded as small or altogether wanting, the term 
is no longer used, and the organism is said to be not 
vitally resistant, but “susceptible” or “vulnerable” to 
disease. * * * When the vital resistance is com¬ 
plete * * * the organism is said to be immune ” 
At present no one perhaps knows all the factors 
which go to make up this “vital resistance” which pro¬ 
tects one person and is absent in another, but accord¬ 
ing to Sedgwick, “We may, it is true, safely consider 
that it is bound up with chemical and physical pro¬ 
cesses which result in favorable chemical and physical 
conditions.” 
In this connection it should be noted that the hy¬ 
drochloric acid in the gastric juices of the adult is 
fatal to nearly all of the ordinary bacteria present 
in uncooked food and to many disease germs. The 
secretions of the intestines are alkaline and would prove 
a favorable condition for many kinds did they escape 
from the stomach. Water passes quickly through the 
Vital 
Resistance 
Gastric 
Juices 
