St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-06-04
Prevention of Sickness.


ounce of prevention Is worth pound
of cure" and il is safe to say that t" Il
practical application OF this truth and
to the consequent searching scientific
Investigations into the causes aud rela
lions of diseases. and the manner of
checking and preventing their pr"paga
tinn. the great advancement i'll medical
science is very largely due.
1t j. fatty stated 10y some theorists
that men do lot live a. long now as III
previun> generations during the last
two hundred years; such persons refer,
to prove their statement. back To the
good old days" Chat expression al
WaNs reminds lis of itchhanglug and
New England rum.) when some per
sons. perhaps their gland-faiheiN W
urcat-uuclrS lived to he ninety az il
hundred wears old. And Yet it Is Il fact
beyond dispute that men d" live longer
po.v than at any other time within the
past two centuries We SAY a fact
bcuond diSpHte. because il is shown to
lie Il fact in the only way which can
prove conclusivcly the truth of such
statement. that is, by statistics. and
those show. after an extensive and care
lul compilation. that the Acreage length
of human life has been Enthusiastically
and constantly increasing. for III least
l. ,,f II
has always been exceptional and i
commonly the result of unr>IIIl and in
hertcd physical Nigor. and to reason
from the existence of a greater or less
number of ccntcnaIians that the average
length of human life is longer OF shorter
j. forming Il general conclusion frnmcN-
crptiuna conditions. and Therefore con
tlIrN to the first principles of logic and
common Scn~e. Because one man has
lived Il hundred Years IN spite ot poor
food. dirt and imperfect ventilation. it
does not follow that Il nutritious diet.
baths. good drainage and pune air aIc
useless in prolon"ing life. 1t would
seem rather. that Sith the assistance of
these helps To nature a dozen of the
mans weaker uciyhborS might have
lived ten or twenty ycaIS longer than
the, did under the kill-or-curr. sur
Nival-ot-the strongest regime.
Aud this is exactly where this argu-
rnemt applies to our statement in regard
To- prevention of diseases. BY the APP
plicatiom of all the sanitary discoveries
or practices. such a> baths. Ventilation.
the Use OF nutritious and property
cooked food. thorough drainage. di-em-
fcctants and isolation of contagious
diseases. bv all these. the human life of
average or weak vital powers has its
chances of prolom"Ltiom Increased. while
the strong mans life certainly i not
shortened. Why l. it that the chnl, III,
smallpox. ur the dreaded tNphus no
longer produces Ia any such extent rs
formerly. that panic. which always
added 50 many victims to the epidemic 4!
II il hN no means altogether due to
the discovery of more efficient re
medal agents: far more than this Is II
due To Il Knowledge of the caII>c- of the
diseases and of the means OF preventing
To Il great extent their propagation.
We have been led To dwell at length
upon this subject. hccau>e of its i'm
pnrtaucc in general and at all times to
every body. To the end that all dccnm-
posing matter shall Ice removed or
deeply buried. sink holes and drain
trap. cleaned out. and wells and ci>telns
examined. that thus pune air and water
may he insured To all. But the subject
seems to H. of especial Importance now.
when after Il pIotracted winter and M
healthy spring there seems to he some
danger of scarlet fever becoming an
epidemic in our village. Scarlet fever
is now generally regarded as of an
infectious nature. being claSSed by
many of the best authorities. with
measles and smallpox and other dis
eases which are communicated both by
the atmosphere and 10y touch. OF course
there are great uncertainties in medical
theories. and practitioners differ on this.
as we'll as on other points. but the mere
fact that it is not certain that the dis
ease is not contagious throws Il great
responsibility on all persons who can
exert any influence on its treatment ::
aud in proportion aS the doubt of the
non-intcctious character of the disease
increases. does the weight of RESPONSE
bilty increase for all whose action in
the matter is based upon the suppo>ition
of its not hcimg contagious: with the
growth of the If in the condition. the
possibilities III the conclusion also grow.
We should lie thankful that the men
terror to our hearts it is demonstrated
every day i'll our large cities that cases
of disease of the most infectious nature
can lie confined to a single house
sometimes to Il single room in Il crowd
ed street. Aud 50 we can feel sure that
with proper treatment we have little
to fear from the prevalence of danger
Gus contagious diseases in our village
With care III ensuring the Use of proper
food. III securing pure water and III
abundance of fresh ali. and 10y keeping
the children from meeting often in larg,
numbers. We can largely diminish tn,
probabilities of the spreading OF any
infection, and We may reasonably eN