File:Biology and man (1944) (20194867290).jpg

Title: Biology and man
Identifier: biologyman00grue (find matches)
Year: 1944 (1940s)
Authors: Gruenberg, Benjamin C. (Benjamin Charles), 1875-1965; Bingham, N. Eldred (Nelson Eldred), 1901-
Subjects: Biology; Human beings
Publisher: Boston, New York, (etc. ) Ginn and company
Contributing Library: MBLWHOI Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MBLWHOI Library

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#^' #^ #' DECLINE OF DIPHTHERIA AS A CAUSE OF DEATH (1880-1942) The long zigzag line shows the fluctuation in deaths from diphtheria per 100,000 population in New York (Manhattan and Bronx, for which the most complete records are available). After 1895, when antitoxin came into use, there is a rapid drop, and then a steady decline for twenty-five years. With the introduction of the Schick test for susceptibility and the immunization of children against diphtheria, this disease became an almost negligible cause of death. The record for the last few years is shown in the inset, as the figures are too small to show on the large graph And we can say that the Hves of milHons and millions of children have been prolonged into adulthood. But these two discoveries illustrate an important principle of living matter. They lead on to a better understanding of life, and possibly to better ways of managing our lives. The important principle in immunization is represented by the familiar fact that if you annoy a cat she is likely to strike back. We might generalize the idea further: Living matter tends to react to changes in a way that neutralizes or counteracts disturbances in metabolism. Chemical disturb- ances call out chemical responses. A specific poison calls out a specific counter-poison—something that is chemically related to )ust that, and not to disturbances in general, not to poisons in general. Chemical Conflict We may think of the formation of an antitoxin as a normal result of the interaction between two kinds of protoplasm. It should not seem strange that among the hundreds of species of micro- 239

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