problem of causes. But nothing strong-planned--as any one of his
financial schemes would be planned--nothing co-ordinated. The researches
of the day were starting at points too complex, before the basic
conditions of the problem were known.

He wanted to learn, and to give to the world, the basic facts.

Disease, as he viewed it, was primarily the result of abnormal
conditions of living. His idea was to study it in its simplest possible
form. To study the effects of abnormal conditions of life on the lowest
living organisms--the microscopic blobs of life whose structure is
elemental. From his wide reading of the last couple of years, he knew
what little was already known and the vast field that was unexplored
territory. He need not waste time over what others had already dealt
with--the new territory offered sufficient field for a life-work.

Once he could get at the basic facts of disease as it related to the
very simplest organisms, he could progress upwards to the higher
organisms, and so eventually to man. What could be learnt from the
pathological condition of an amoeba might lay the foundations for the
conquering of cancer in man, and a hundred other diseases as well.
Matheson's idea was a revolutionary one--a master-idea like a
master-patent. It held limitless possibilities for the alleviation of
human pain and suffering.

It was an idea to which a man might well devote his whole intellect and
energies.

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