The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1874-11-11
SOME Pofxfs AHOtF nEALTn.

cities taking place now in England as well as
in this country. The spirit of civilization in
its chronological sense is Affecting people every
where, and this gathering of human beings
so into necessarily compressed quarters is
offering peculiar facilities for the development
and spread of disease. Consideration of the
public health is constantly becoming of more
to live more and more dependently upon each
other. DR.. Lyon Playfair, at the recent
social science congress at Glasgow, took this
subject for his discourse, aud showed how, by
intelligent sanitary regulation, the dangerous
tendency of city-growth might be avoided and
the public health be steadily improved.
London, two centuries ago, lost yearly so out
of every 1000 inhabitants to-day with its
vastly augmented population, the city loses
but 22.4 out of every 1000. Glasgow, where
the lecture was delivered, is more careless
than London, and the direct result is visible
in death rate of so to London's 22.4.
The secret of individual health is cleanli-
ness, the work of sanitary administration for
the people generally is to force everybody to
be clean. So far as the effort succeeds, the
health rate improves. The great epidemics
of the middle ages came upon people who for
years and for successive generations did not
even know what it was to battle. The filth
that was an element of their lives was an ele-
ment and cause alike of their deaths. Clean
houses, clean water, and clean air are the three
points that DIR. Playfair demands as essential
to health. Rivers from which cities drink
must drain neither cities nor factories.
There is natural tendency of water to clean
itself, but that ability is limited to a certain
amount, and sewage in unlimited quantity
may make river poison and again clean
houses and clean air are only to be had by
complete breaking up of the overcrowded
tenement system, where nothing can be clean
or pure. Remedy these evils and the way to
health is comparatively easy. Nor is it pos
sble forever to neglect them. Going from
bad to worse in neglect these possible causes
became actual causes of disease which once
broken out does not confine itself to the place
or the class of its origin.
But while untimely death may be averted
by careful management, we have to admit
that death itself is sure to come some time
1t is at best only postponed The time that
would be saved to the world by a lengthening
of she term of life by enforcing greater care
would not nearly equal that which would be
saved by the abolition of what may be termed
unnecessary sickness--the time lost in sick
ness by people who do not then die, but re-
| IT, o,ch 81,
| 184 days for every individual who dies. If
the rate is the same here our 100000 annual
deaths will demand 10000 900 cases of sick
ness with a total yearly loss Of about 3i5, 000,-
600 working days. One-tliird of our popula-
ton is engaged in occupation " according to
the census, and if that class has only its third
of the sickness it involves an annual loss Of
105, 000,0 900 working days, which is about 8
per cent. of all the possible labor of the
country. This is the aspect in which the
utilitarian may best look at the subject of
health. BY far the greater part of the sick
ness which does not kill is in sense unneces-
sary. 1t is avoidable. When, in the aggre-
gate, carelessncss and ignorance of such mat
tiers are seen to have SO much effect upon the
productive power of the country it is no Won
der that there is growing inclination to put
the charge of the public health into the con-
troll of boards possessed of knowledge and of
power to enforce known laws.
In connection with the subject of national
health, it is interesting, too, to notice the
calculations of DIR. Edward Jarvis of Massa-
chusetts, which were read in Boston in May,
and are now just printed in the Social Science
Journal. 1t appears from these that If one
million children were born each year in each
of the countries mentioned these would main
tain populations of 4S, 900, 600 in Norway and
Sweden; 10000, 900 in England of $4,000
600 in France, and OF 22,000,000 in Ireland,
thus illustrating the vital powers of each
people and showing the weakness of the Irish
health. Perhaps because our immigration
population is so largely Irish, and certainly
for some reason since it is proved fact, the
deaths in this country are 179 of immigrants
to 100 of native Americans. This interesting
fact is refutation of the frequent assertions
that Americans would die out in three genera
tions but for immigration. The native here
has stronger natural hold upon the climate
than the immigrant and the foreigner who
settles here raises up children TO be stronger
than himself. Hartford Courant
| -=->.-~ses--.~-----