"[9] A more recent
writer adds, "In the higher animals and plants, we are presented with
structures which may be regarded as essentially aggregates of cells;
and there is now a physiological division of labor, some of the cells
being concerned with the nutriment of the organism, whilst others are
set apart, and dedicated to the function of reproduction. Every cell
in such an aggregate leads a life, which, in a certain limited sense,
may be said to be independent; and each discharges its own function in
the general economy. Each cell has a period of development, growth,
and active life, and each ultimately perishes; the life of the
organism not only not depending upon the life of its elemental
factors, but actually being kept up by their constant destruction and
as constant renewal."[10] Growth, health, and disease are cellular
manifestations. With every act of life, the movement of a finger, the
pulsation of a heart, the uttering of a word, the coining of a
thought, the thrill of an emotion, there is the destruction of a
certain number of cells. Their destruction evolves or sets free the
force that we recognize as movement, speech, thought, and emotion.
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