Page:Defensive Ferments of the Animal Organism (3rd edition).djvu/111

 organism, and these may be equally injurious under certain conditions. If these products of a gradual decomposition constantly appear only in small quantities and further decomposition is very rapid, then the injury will be but trifling and transitory. When, on the contrary, a large quantity of these products of decomposition suddenly appear, they can produce serious disturbances by their combined action. In these processes it is not only their chemical nature, their structure and configuration, that is of importance; we have to remember that, during the decomposition of colloid substances, products arise which exert an influence upon the osmotic pressure, and may, in consequence, disturb the existing equilibrium. What we observe in the plasma also takes place, as we have already emphasized, in the interior of the cells, and probably in a similar way. It may be pointed out here that, when bodies of a simple constitution, such as crystalloids, are introduced, the organism is able to defend itself, not only by decomposing such disharmonious substances, but also by excreting a part of them, at any rate, through the kidneys. The same method of defence may be resorted to when, during the decomposition of complicated substances, simpler particles are produced. In this case the excretion accelerates the ejection of the disharmonious substance from the body. It is true that, in doing this, the organism loses valuable