The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-04-18
COOKS US:c4T II
STATE nOARn OF nE.LTEF.
1he h-ate Movement Amaug IKE
Doctors, md what They
Propose 10 Accomplish

] j
Of the n Inst. IN ,rk new aud v.rs ia :
Iortant era IN the history of Missi-s Pr
! dicine. Itindicstss a stepping OFT o
i the groove o. plod ling r. utine practice
/ aud promises to elevate II a still highet
! plane the already lofty and holy missi ~ oi
+ tn professors of the healing art.
] Selected by their fellows II the Mississip up
| State Medicil Association two from each
! Congressional District, and by the vernon
/ three from the Stat at large, fifteen in al
/ these @entl' men. with 10 hope of fee OF
re"a.d other thau that which i sci f-gen+r-
a.ed in the coHsc iousness Of the true human
| itariau have orgli1zcd themselves into Il
/ holy OF sanitary commissioners for the pur-
| pose OF Studying and disseminating knoNI-
ed2" OF those means and appliances which
have for their object the preservation of
health and the prevention Of disease.
There are in The State of Mississippi not
less than seventeen hundred anl ii ~ prac-
ticing physicians more than TWO hundred Of
whom are members Of the State Medical ~
ISOLATION. Many OF these are not only well
educated in the science of medicine a
taught in the schools an! textbooks but
they are well trained observers AMI thinkers
fruits OF whose mental toll should be gar
| n, red nj in The great store house of human
knowledge. From various causes only
a few of these have cultivated the habit
! of making a record of their observations
and T, lections. Ia many Instances, the
want Of a prop r nceutive-the absence Of
cncourag cement. the hard struggle for exis-
tcnce in which the young physician Is COM
PEELED u plunge the moment he leaves the
toorstcps OF his college-the routine of
ply steal and mental drudgery into which
he inevitably fIlis-have conSpired To make
literary and scientific drones out Of many
wor kers, who, under 9th and more favor
able auspices, would long since have en-
Iiched the pages Of our journals with their
contributions Scattered here and there
over the State ia obscure villages and in
Isolated country places, there are hundreds
of the brightest intelIe,ts grown iudolent
and rusty from want Of use. One grand
object of the organization OF the medical
profession is To quicken into renewed life
and yigor this dormant brain power, and
bring into active cooperation the lattnt
energies of all our brother hood. 1t is one
of the purposes of the organic ttion to mar
shall all the medical forces of the State and
organize an army OF sanitary observation.
more fertile field for research than that
territory enclosed by the boundary lines OF
the State of Mississippi does not exist on
this continent. with a genial and equable
climate, we have the rich prairie belt on the
east. the sandy pine land CT the middle, the
great Mississippi River swamp on the west,
and magnificent Gulf coast, at the south.
Thus presenting within our own borders and
under our view almost every important va
riety of those local conditions aud influences
which are shown o III odiry the character of
endemic As we'll as epidemic diseases. And
the observations and investigations of our
pi,y sicuans will not close with the study of
diseases peculiar to oqr locality. we have
two great railroads trayersing the full
length of the State-one commencing at
New Orleans, and the other at Mobile-both
giving us free intercourse with all the cities
of the North. and exposing Us TO all the
travelling diseases and distcmpers of the
commercial world. Ia addition to this, we
have The Mississippi River with the thou
sands of crafts, large and small, plying Ihelr
trade at our wharVeS and landings, nOatlng
hospitals many of them are OF cOutag,on
and infection. 70 say nothing OF the pleas
ant little towns upon our Gull coast, we
have indicated enough 70 show that we are,
and ought to be profoundly interested i'll
the question OF quarantine.
But il is not entirely voyage OF diScov-
cry to which physicians are inVit u by the
state Board of Health. New facts, of
course. are always in demand. The physi-
| clan who establishes a new fact i Il Dene-
| factor of his race; whilst, therefore, every
| effort should he made with unfllggiug zeal
10 make additions to our stock OF knowl-
! edge, we should not forget in our car, er OF
| progress to utilize those facts already es-
| tabished, and cut in practical operation
! such knowledge AZ we haze already ac-
| quired
! To illustrate: Previous to the beginning
| of the present century, and indeed, within
| the memory OF many men now living, the
! disease, small was regarded aS Ole OF
; tie t9rrorS the earth - victims were
! numbered by thogsaudg, and even now in
| rown day, tradition comes to rs fright
ened with the hideous pictures of that hOr-
| rid disease. Although, nov comparatively
, harmless. people dread il as they do an inn
| aginary lepro>y Only the other day a
| case of this disease occurred in the State
, Eenjtenitary mpprtetl from New Orleans.
! With prom ptness and skill the physician OF
that institution, Dir. Writ johnston, throt-
tied the monster a once, an jackson was
saved from pauic if not from loathsome
and death-dealing epidemic.
About eighty years ago DR.. Edward
! Jenner, 81 l.andeH, discovered and made
| known to the WOrlQ the .toIS4tEe virtues
OF vaccination. The milk maids told him
about it. They asncr!ainad that those OF
them who manipulated the udders OF COWS
during the prevalence of an epidemic OF
small noX, frequently had a lew puStulaT
sores on tie hands, and that those thus al
! tclte1 invariably escaped the small poX.
! JenneF ploItea by the hint. and putting
mi, and that together eslaLli lied the fact
tAat vaccinia ar c0w-poX would protest
human beings against SmHi-poX: II that
be true (lnd tie cXper ience o. mankind
| proves tbItit is truc) why is it that small
pox has not been banished from the face OF
the earth?
The answer is found in the fact that the
law makers and the physicians have not
1 acted in concert. Either the physicians
have been remiss in failing to advise tho
law makers or the law makers have stopped
short of their duty.
State medicine means preventive medi-
cine. and preventive medicine means the
adoption of such sanitary regulations in d
State by legal enactment as may be sane
toned by the knoWedge and experience o
those who have made it the business o
their lives to study the various medical sub
iectS which can be affected by appropriate
legislation. The main purpose of The STATE
Board of Health will be to advise the State
government upon all subjects connected
with the preservation of health and th'
prevention of disease.
| propose as occasion and convenience
may serve to write a series of papers OF
| this subject addressed directly to the peo
pie. No great enterprise, however praise
worthy it may be, can prosper without the
countcnance and support OF the people
| Ii physicians have heretofore been too re
tieent and exclusive in matters pertaining
to their profession, the precedent is not
coUd one and should be abandoned. Tn,
people have a right to know what is COINS
| on and If the purposes OF the Health or
ganization in the State shall be fully ant
unreservedly explained, the people will en-
courage and foster the enterpri rise.
| SANITARIAN.