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     98                                   THE ENZYME TREATMENT OF CANCER

 

that portion of pathology treating of the tumours or neoplasms, benign and malignant. The phenomena termed “heredity “ are germinal in nature, and in this way they fall within the province of the embryologist, not in that of the mathematician. But at first sight it is, perhaps, not so clear that neoplasms—living things possessing simple or complicated structures, but devoid of any useful functions—should be entities about whose nature the embryologist need concern himself at all. As recently as four years ago—that is. in 1900—but few of the higher teratomata were recognized as embryonic in nature. Now almost the other extreme has been reached, and possibly there are few tumours, benign or malignant, the embryonic nature of which has not been advocated by some observer or other, usually a pathologist. By embryonic is meant that their tissues would be identical with—even, according to some observers, derived from—some of those making up an embryonic body, that they would be, in the word employed by Wilms, “embryomata.” As to their origin, apart from the so-called” parasitic theories,” which are more remarkable for the things they leave untouched than for the “facts” they explain, for benign or malig­nant tumours, or for both, certain erroneous views, not really based in embryology, have within the last year been advocated at home and abroad. Malignant neo­plasms, such as cancer, have been supposed to arise from somatic cells of the individual, either with or without a conjugation of such. To my mind there is as little evidence—and that is none at all—to show that somatic cells could take on malignant characters as that cancer-­cells could, or do, conjugate with their fellows or with other cells, such as leucocytes. Indeed, the appearances described and figured as conjugation in a cancer are capable of other and simple explanations. Certainly, if

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