the more would form in order to get rid of the T-bacilli present. So, as Reich put it, “The
cancer cell is in reality a product of the many PA-bions which were formed from blood or
tissue cells, as a defense against the local auto-infection with T-bacilli.”^5
Reich was struck by a parallel here between the development of cancer cells in ani-
mal tissue and the development of protozoa in disintegrating grass. He had already noticed
that it was extremely difficult or altogether impossible to obtain protozoa from infusions of
fresh spring grass, while autumnal grass gave an abundance of numerous protozoa. In the
same fashion, cancer cells developed in deader, less vital blood and tissue. The essential
point for Reich was that there was a functional identity between the development of proto-
zoa in the grass infusion and of the cancer cells in the organism. Each developed from PA-
bions in matter that had disintegrated. Neither developed in a young, flourishing organism,
but both did so readily in a biologically damaged, “autumnal” host.
Reich then followed the development of bions into bion heaps that aggregated into
club-shaped cancer cells moving with a slow, jerky action, visible at a magnification of
sooox. He was able to distinguish five stages in the growth of cancer cells that eventually
formed tumors. In the first stage, all that was apparent were changes in the shape of the nor-
mal cells and the presence of T-bacilli within the cell and around its periphery in the adja-
cent fluid.
As a result of studying the blood in healthy and diseased mice, and later in healthy
and sick people, Reich devised three tests for assessing the biological vitality of the blood.
These tests have elsewhere been described in detail^6 ; I shall limit myself here to a brief
summary of the main findings.
Healthy red blood cells disintegrated much more slowly than blood from cancerous
patients or mice. When it did disintegrate, healthy blood broke up into large uniform gran-
ules, whereas unhealthy blood disintegrated into shrunken granules. In another test proce-
dure healthy blood, inoculated into a culture medium, left the culture clear after a day or two
had passed.Unhealthy blood yielded T-bacilli that caused the broth to turn putrid.
The immediate significance ofthese tests was that they provided a crucial diagnos-
tic tool. Unhealthy blood as defined by the above tests could be observed in stage one of
the cancer process or well before the appearance of a tumor. A blood test showing abun-
dant T-bacilli meant that the patient was a “high risk” candidate for tumor development.
Preventive measures such as the regular use of the orgone accumulator were strongly indi-
cated (see below).
The blood tests illustrate well both the conceptual unity and the practicality of
Reich’s work. Just as in psychiatry he had worked directly with the vitality or emotional-ener-
getic flow of the organism, so in his biological work he focused on a similar kind of ener-
getic expression. Biologically vigorous, strongly pulsating red blood cells show microscopi-
cally a wide margin (or “energy field”) of an intense blue color, in contrast to sick cells,
which show a reduced pulsation and a very narrow margin with a weak blue color. As with
patients,so in examining blood, Reich paid close attention to color, form, and movement.
As with patients, he moved from broad theoretical formulations to concrete techniques and
22 : The Medical Effects of the Accumulator: 1940-1948 277