The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1915-01-01
Copyright. 1914. by A. S. Gray)
MORE ABOUT CANCER.

search for the cure" or for the pre-
'ehtlon OF cancer leads US inevitably
into the broad field of biological study
OF reproduction, because, as Haeckel
says reproduction is nothing more
IMAM growth of the organism beyond
us Individual mass, which erects
part into whole" Unfortunately. be.
cause OF this fact, there is but little
nope OF any immediate and material
cneck being put on the scourge.
The prevention of cancer is clearly
matter of individual initiative, Just
as is the prevention OF fire.
l firmly believe that anv consistent
eVolutlonist can, after comparatively
Superficial examination of the biolog.
lcai facts pertaining to the most log
lcai theory as to the cause of cancer
maintain himself immune not only to
that disease, but also to many other
uh"nolesome and distressing condi.
IONS apparently closely allied thereto
Inc word consistent" is used ad-
Vlsedly because few of rs are consist.
eht eVolutlonists. We are hyphen-
a'eu eVolutlonists, eEolutionists by
PROFESSION, but not by conviction. 1t
Is the fashionable doctrine now and
we must always be in fashion and do
ana thlnk exactly as everybody else;
Dut down in our secret souls We cher
Ism a lot of superstitious nonsense
that makes disciplined knowledge i'm
possible and that is menace to the
whole world of orderly thought Be.
SIDES, it requires considerable effort
deliberately to start out to achieve a
comprehensive understanding OF any
given subject, and we really haven't
the time to do that. If this were not
the real situation it is very obvious
that most of our physical and social
Ills would speedily be corrected.
So long as individual nutrition is
abundant individual development pro-
ceeds, but at the slightest hint of dan.
ger to the individual through arrest Of ,
nutrition reproduction is fastened. ,
Life is very fexihlasSans------v 90 {
sfstent and will not be cut on. On y
every hand we have evidence of this ,
principle. Trees always die first at ,
the top, but it is at the top, too, that
they first flower and mature their fruit.
This principle will be found operative
all through the vegetable kingdom and
1t is the same with animals, including
the human animal
Rapidly growing plants and animals
do not reproduce, and it is not until
the ability to absorb nutrition is
checked-that is to say, not until the
cells have reached the limit of nutri- |
ton absorption, or until normal growth
and maturity is reached-that repro
duction is possible. Here again we
find the same phenomena: The poorest
and most starved and puny are the
most prolific. And 1t Is the same with
the human race.
1t is among the poor and the under
fed in our city slums or in the inferior
producing sections of the country that
you will find the least indications of
race suicide" BY keeping this id 20
in mind we shall not be .ss highly |
disoova. thaf among inc ie'
na,,.;sbs5 y9ch families in the better
narts of our cities and on the highly
productive soil of the country In gen.
eral we find but few children in the
family. This is a universal biologlc
law we'll worth the consideration OF
some of our eminent statesmen The
phenomenon of decreasing birth rate
confronts every nation progressing in
we'll distributed wealth, and it is not
a matter to be reached by legislation.
Only starvation will correct it, and
conversely a perfectly logical way to
exterminate the slums of our large
cities would be to feed the inhabitants.
The slums would not then swarm
with i'll nourished children" because
nature, recognizing life to be secure
from danger of starvation, automatic
ally would reduce the number repro
duced, just as she does in the corn
field, the flower bed, the apple orchard
or among the wild weeds Of the fielt
or the forest.
Obviously it is easy now to apply
this same universal law of propagation
to the billions of individual lives tina
constitute our bodies. provided w
have trained ourselves to thinl
straight. From the instant OF impree
nation an intense cell proliferatio
multiplication by division) begins an
normally continues along definite biz
logic lines to maturity. Maturity
that state wherein the individual cell
reach the limit of their nutrition al
sorbing ability, the normal reproduc
i've functions come into play and
biological balance Of the entire organ
ism is maintained for the normal Iii
period of the organism, all part
of which are composed of stab
adult" cells. But II the organise
is persistently deprived OF SON
essential cell element, those starve
cells, acting under the lash OF hu
ger, rebel, and, following the Ia
which compels all plants and ANNA
A.. roI;6e ranroduction in the fai