Page:The Harveian oration 1903.djvu/54

This page needs to be proofread.

48 THE HARVEIAN ORATION, 1903

relation between the chemical composition and constitution of a substance and its physiological action no doubt lies at the root of all rational drug therapeutics. But no one can assert that so far very much is known in this direction or that there has been much practical outcome of the investigations. This would be quite otherwise however if we had a knowledge of the molecular structure of living matter which would show the perversions taking place in disease and indicate the way in which they could be corrected.

The subject of immunity may reasonably be expected to find its interpretation in the ultimate constitution of the tissue elements ; as also those at present vague conditions which we are dimly conscious of, represented by such terms as “ bodily constitution ” and “ temperament.” So too the differences in response on the part of different individuals to the same morbific influence, the variations in the manifestation of what we speak of as the same disease in various persons that lead the sagacious physician to treat the patient and not the malady; and in brief those intangible characters which determine the responsibility of the organism for morbid symptoms, as distinct from the injurious agent that we speak of as cause, each and all await their explanation. The factors of the environment which condition the vitality of the tissues are not to be found solely

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.