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the wandering cells of the starfish tried to eat the rose thorns (and he could show it so prettily too) that even the most eminent and pope-like Professor Doctor Virchow (who had sniffed at Koch) believed him!

Metchnikoff was now a microbe hunter. . . .

With Olga and the children flapping along and keeping up as best they could, Metchnikoff hurried to Vienna to proclaim his theory that we are immune to germs because our bodies have wandering cells to gobble germs up; he made a bee-line for the laboratory of his friend, Professor Claus—who was a zoölogist, and knew nothing about microbes either, and so was properly amazed:

"I would be greatly honored to have you publish your theory in my Journal," said Claus.

"But I must have a scientific name for these cells that devour microbes—a Greek name—what would be a Greek name for such cells?" cried Metchnikoff.

Claus and his learned colleagues scratched their heads and peered into their dictionaries and at last they told him: "Phagocytes! Phagocyte is Greek for devouring cell—phagocytes is what you must call them!"

Metchnikoff thanked them, tacked the word "phagocyte" to the head of his mast, and set sail on the seas of his exciting career as a microbe hunter with that word as a religion, an explanation of everything, a slogan, a means of gaining a living—and, though you may not believe it, that word did result in something of a start at finding out how it is we are immune! From then on he preached phagocytes, he defended their reputations, he did some real research on them, he made enemies about them, he doubtless helped to start the war of 1914 with them, by the bad feeling they caused between France and Germany.

He went from Vienna to Odessa, and there he gave a great