Following the law of self-preservation, we find that of _accommodation_ manifesting itself in the vital activities of the Subconscious Mind. This principle or law works in the direction of _adjusting the organism to conditions which it cannot remedy_. Thus a sapling bent out of shape, will bend its branches upward until once more they will reach toward the sky notwithstanding the deformed trunk. Seed sprouting from a narrow crevice in a rock, and unable to split the rock, will assume a deformed shape but will hold tenaciously to life, and will thrive under these abnormal conditions. This principle of accommodation acts upon the idea of "life at any price," and of "making the best of things." Man and the lower animals accommodate themselves to their environment, when they are unable to overcome the unsatisfactory conditions of the latter. The study of anthropology, natural history, and botany will convince anyone that the principle of accommodation is everywhere present in connection with that of self-preservation. And the diseased conditions, and abnormal functioning, which we find in cases of chronic diseases is simply the principle of accommodation in the vital activities of the Subconscious Mind, but which it is "trying to make the best of it," and holding on to "life at any price." Dr. Murphy, previously quoted, says: "Disease, in its essential nature, has a deeper significance than simply abnormal manifestations. It is really a remedial effort, not necessarily successful, but an attempt to change, or have changed existing conditions. And for this reason any improper relation of the living organism to external agents necessarily results in an injury to that organism, which by virtue of its being self-preservative, immediately sets up defensive action, and begins as soon as possible to repair the damages that have accrued. This defensive or reparative action, of course, corresponds to the conditions to be corrected, and hence is abnormal and diseased; and its severity and persistence will depend upon the damages to be repaired, and the intensity and persistence of the causes that produced it. Serious injury present or impending will demand serious vital action; desperate conditions, desperate action. But in all cases the action is vital, an attempt at restoration, and the energy displayed will exactly correspond to the interests involved and the vitality that is available."