Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-12-30
TENDENCY OF SCIENCE.


II is worthy OF notice that prominent
twentieth century scientists actually
follow in the footsteps Of the alchem-
lists and wizards Of the middle ages,
who were IN search of process by
which gold could be made of baser
metals and youth prolonged Indefinite
~. Through tho recent discoveries Of
the properties OF radium, ridicule Of
alchemy is sllenced. The alchemists
are pronounced philosophers and II is
solemnly declared that their efforts to
transmute iron into gold or lead into
silver had nothing In 1t contrary to
our present conception of the nature Of
the so-called elements, The changes
they tried to produce in their i'll
equipped laboratories for immediate
profit were not in their nature incon-
celvable. They are changes such as
chemists OF the twentieth century cen
cede to be going on all the time slowly
in the laboratory OF nature. They
were theoretically possible. The al
chemists trouble, they say, was that
he was in hurry. He tried TO do in
day what nature takes some millions
Of years to do. That is the present
position as to alchemy.
And with regard to the prolongation
of youth and life, the statement is now,
seriously II seems, made that Rus
sian sayant M. Metchnikoff has arr
rived at the conclusion that "old age"
is merely a disease, which may be re-
duced to the very lowest possible term
in the life OF man. That Is to say.
life may be continued for say, one
hundred and fifty years, with all the
signs and tokens that we are now ac-
cuetomed to associate with men and
women under thlrty-hyel
N. Metchnkon, we are told, has
studied the Pastour secret OF 'immun-
izingn flesh and blood from the powers
that work for destruction, and he has
found the destroyer OF life and years.
lie calls these destroyers phagccytes,"
n term formed, we presume, from two
Greek words meaning "cell-eaters,'
These monsters. he explains, feed only
upon the noble tissues Of the human
frame; the decay whitening and loss
OF the hair FOR example, IL tha result
of the phasocyte's rapacity. Every
precious tissue Is rayaged by this mon-
ster. II dsprives the bones, blood and
what-not Of their primitive qualities.
and thus makes the osseous fabric dry
and brittle, the blood thin and unani-
mating after certain age, The chalk
that penetrates the bones with age, the
rlgidity that orlpples the muscular net
work, the cerebral clogglng accom-
panylng old age, are, he says, exactly
the opposite of what nature originally
Intended when man 'Has created or de-
veloped Hence to restore the pri-
mordial man, the professor asserts the
phagocyte must be routed, and the hui
man win grow old like the oak,
strengthening with years until the time
comes for oil the framework 10 end
easily and naturally. after, say, one
hundred and Atty or even two hundred
years.
The question, then, Is TO find an ami
NAL that will consume the cell-eater
and leave the tissue unframed. Can
this be done? The Russian sayant sug-
gests that serums must be prepared TO
| reinforce the blood globues, the nerve
| cells, the muscular fibre and finally the
heart tissues For most Of these. all
that Is necessary, the professor argues,
is the injecting into degenerate vltali-
ties certain components Of the human
system or organs, but the law forbids,
Of course, the killing OF one human be-
ing for the sake Of obtaining Certain
comporents Of the human system" for
the benefit of another. SO that cannot
be done. But ir those "components'
are effective they will be produced
chemically, so vlvlsectIon viii not be
| needed.
But does not che Russians theory
sound savage2 Cannbnlism was eN-
cused by some African tribes on the
ground that the eating Of conquered OPP
ponents would transfer 10 the eater
certain qualities Of the slain. We have