7rcTIX1xP

Hatha Yoga: The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-Being1872
the system from germs, bacteria, etc., which might cause trouble or disease.
When one of these policemen comes in contact with an intruding germ
the police cell enmeshes it and then proceeds to devour it, if it be not too
large—if it be too large for him to get away with he summons other cells to
his assistance, when the combined force gather around the enemy and carry
it to some point of the body where it may be thrown out. Boils, pimples, etc.,
are instances of the throwing out of some intruding enemy or enemies by
these policemen of the system.
There is much work for the red-blood cells to do. They carry the oxygen
to the parts of the body; they push along the nourishment obtained from
the food to the parts of the body where it is needed to build up and repair;
they extract from the nourishment just the elements needed to manufacture
gastric juice, saliva, pancreatic juices, bile, milk, etc., etc., and then combine
them in the proper proportions for use. They do a thousand and one things
and are busy continuously like a lot of ants in and around an anthill. The
Oriental teachers have long known and taught of the existence and work
of these “little lives,” but it has remained for Western science to dig into the
subject in such a way as to bring to light the details of their work.
Cells are being born and cells are dying every moment of our existence.
Cells reproduce themselves by enlarging and subdividing, the original cell
swelling until it finally forms two parts with a small connecting “waist”; then
the connection parts and there are two independent cells instead of one.
The new cell in turn divides itself up, and so on.
Cells enable the body to carry on its work of continual regeneration,
Every part of the human body is undergoing a constant change and tissues
are being continually renewed. Our skin, bones, hair, muscles, etc., are
constantly being repaired and “made over,” It takes about four months to
replace our finger nails—about four weeks to replace our skin. Every part
of our bodies is being worn out and renewed and repaired constantly. And
these little workmen—the cells—are the agency performing this wonderful
task. Millions of these little workers are ever moving along or working in