Page:Defensive Ferments of the Animal Organism (3rd edition).djvu/154

 possible of those specific properties which are out of harmony with the host. Of course, other processes come into play in this connection. The decomposites are oxidized, reduced, methylated, acetylated, benzolated, &c., and are also, without any doubt, coupled in very different ways with various compounds. The defensive ferments prepare the disharmonious material in a proper manner, so that the individual cells of the body may attack it in their own specific way. The ferments remain unaltered during all these processes. They enter temporarily into combination with the substrate to be altered. Once the decomposition is completed, the ferment is again ready to initiate new reactions—mostly decompositions. An over-production of ferments, in response to an invasion of disharmonious bodies, is therefore unnecessary. The importance we ascribe to these means of defence of the organism against the invasion of disharmonious substances may, however, be objected to on the ground that little is gained by demonstrating the existence of ferments in the blood plasma, and by agreeing that they play an important part in connection with infectious diseases, so long as the ferments themselves are not known by us. We know nothing of their structure, their nature, or their special modes of action; and only become aware of their existence through their activities. The fact, that they are 9