New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-01-13
THE OUyCE OF PREVENTION.


made not Death. nor had pleasure IN tne
destruction of the living. For lie crea'ou , az
things that they might have their Deihs. rn'
generations of the world were heai.hiui'
There is no poison of destruction IN theni'
| But ungodly men by their works ana "oiuS
brought death on them The Scripture may
be quite true, but the truth of it we are just
beginning to discover. Hitherto the EFFORT
has been to fight the elements, as IL they were
hostile Shut the windows to keep out the ar !;
| close blinds land shutters against the noxiouS
beams of the sun. Beware of the excessive
use of water. Have always in the closet
supply of drugs and medicines to hold at Day
the demoniac powers of Nature. For hundreds
of ages mankind have been fighting oil the
angels of health The universe was full OF
regenerating forces. The benefcent atmosphere
WAS piled miles thick all about the planet.
| Light was poured out in oceans. water lowed
in rivers, fell in torrents, stood In lakes, DuD-
bed in fountains But, unhappily, ignorance
! of the worth of these benefits was as extensive
as the benefits; and, worse than all, an idea
that Nature was the abode of evil spirits was
almost as widely spread as the ignorancei
and men rushed blindfolded on to disease,
supposing they were escaping from 1t. bet
ter day is coming at last. The belief IN the
| pernicious character of the elements Is dying
out among intelligent people; ignorance OF
Natures beneficence is passing away, and SCI
ence is bethinking itself of means for utilizing
the powers it has ever been scOrning and COM
batting. The pound of cure having proved
unayailing except to bruise and batter the poor
C flor 10 oh cd
and applied with view toward ascertalnlng
whether it is, after all, necessary that man
| should be invalid Dr. George Derby has re-
Gently read an essay on the prevention OF DIS
| ease, before the Boston Social Science AssocIa-
ton, which will richly repay attention. Not
that it contains anything original or new; 1t
| says what intelligent people have been long
familiar with But it asserts, with the author
ity and dignity of knowledge, the fact that
disease can be prevented, that there is no fatal
ty in i'll health, that to very great degree SICK
ness is within our control, and that 1T will be
under command in much greater measure than
it is now. He gives instances of the effect OF
prevention in cases where the devices of cure
had failed As improved means of sewerage
and water supply are adopted, death rates fall
erpool. sweetness and light expelled fever and
death Even the stiff, implacable demon OF Con-
sumption has been drained off with dirty water
from twenty-four towns in Massachusetts,
Small pox, measles, and scarlet fever were shut
out from the Sicily Islands for space of ten
years by the simple circumstance that no
stranger came there from nosome region
with trunk of foul clothes. Here in New
York science held at bay, by merest proven
ton. the dreaded onset of Asiatic Cholera,
which most of our people regarded as the
inevitable scourge of God, whose messenger
and ayenger the Black Death wac, and brave
physicians armed with power to scatter lime
freely, To clean out vaults, mend drains let air
into attics, and light into cellars, sweep away
| poisonous gases from chambers, and heaps OF
| ofial from back yards, abolish fat and bone
boiling nusances, Danish slaughter houses.
and compel the men who manufactured gas
for he city to make their business toerable for
| lungs and noses, did actually succeed in
stamping out" the seeds of doom in hundreds
of places where heedlessness, and filth, and
vice had scattered them and allowed them to
| lie. An eminent physician of the so-called
"Od SCHOOL, who had distinguished himself
by the part he took in this heroic battle OH
the side of prevention, remarked, in com
pany of younger professional men, that the
virtues of hygiene-that is, of light, air,
cleanliness, proper ventilation and heating,
publication of person, dwelling, street,
town-had been demonstrated past ques-
ton, and would be more and more
appreciated by the custOdians of the public
health. Nature is the mother of regeneration
not the father of destruction. Let her work
fairly aud freely by force of her own ele-
ments, under the action of her own laws,
wisely interpreted and skillfully applied, and
human life will become longer, sweeter, more
useful, more joyous, more satisfactory. richer,
and nobler in every way. So much we have
discovered. SO much is certain. The elements
are on the side of health. The blocking and
thwarting of the elements causes disease. But
while clinging firmly to this conviction, it will
not do to be over sanguine in regard to the
immediate results to be expected from it, or
over confident of our power to use it. The
matter is by no means so easy rs hopeful en-
thusiasts are disposed to think. We have not
mastered the elements yet, either in their
essences or their combinations. Our art is
behind our science, ana our science mas some
thing to learn. While the rule of Prevention
is better understood, the work that Prevention
has to do must not be under estimated. The
health giving powers are few and within ready
reach. The laws of health are plain to any
body with eyes. What not to do, every idiot
may know if he will. What to do, every
reasonable being may be persuaded of when
ever he is willing to be. How to do the proper
thing how to avoid the improper thing, is the