The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-12-18

The seventh lecture in the free course given
under the auspices of the Maine Charitable
Mechanic Association, was delivered last eve
ming by DR.. T. Ell. Gerrish before a fine audi
ence. The subject, 'The Criminality of Dis
ease," was treated in very careful and inter-
estlng manner.
The speaker began with brief account of
the efforts which had been made to establish a
State Board of HEALTH and a review Of the ar
guments which were brought against the bill
in the legislature. The principal of these were
that the state could not afford it; that the med
ical profession ought to do all the work of the
board gratuitously; that, though but little
money was asked for at first, the board would
soon be great burden to taxpayers; that there
was no need Of efforts to diminish the amount
of sickness; that it was scheme for the bene-
fit solely Of Portland; and that it would be of
great financial injury to certain places which
are notably in an unsanitary condition. Each
of these was taken up in turn and completely
answered in detail, it being shown that the
state could not afford to do without such
board, looking at the matter solely from the
financial point of view; that the medical pro-
fession was going to be harmed rather than
benefited by it; that the amount of money
necessary for the support of the board would
always be Insignificant as compared with the
amount it would save; that five hundred lives
could be saved by 1T every year; that cOuntry
places would experience quite as much advan-
tage from it as this city; and that place,
which is so careless of the lives of its citizens
as to allow itself to remain in an unhealthful
condition, deserves TO lose its people by emil
grafton.
The legislature Is a representative body, and
such action shows that there is great need of
educating the people on these questions. They
should be shown not only that disease is ex-
pensive, but also that, in very many cases, 1t is
is crime. The word "crime" was used, not
in its restricted sense of an ipfraction of merely
human law, but In its broader meaning of
heipous offence against society. The argu-
ment of the lecture was that much of the pre-
valent diseases is preventable; that severe
epidemic ought to be as impossible as repeti-
ton of the massacre of st. Bartholomew's
day; that any epidemic should be regarded as a
crime, and the persons who are responsible for
it should.be punished with the greatest severi-
ty. Furthermore, failure on the part of in
dividuals to take good care of their bodies is
worse than suicidal because entailing their
viciously acquired ills upon their yet unborn
children.
As it is improbable thar there will be enough
intelligence and philanthropy in the legislature
for some time to come to make the health-bll
a law we should take some course by which
we may protect ourselves. 1t was proposed
that physiology and hygiene should be taught
extensively in our schools, in order that the
young may learn to appreciate the sacredness
of their bodies and refrain from the vicious in
dulgencies which are the cause of so much
sickness and death; and that they may be
trained to an understanding Of the value of
public preventive medicine We should at
once insist upon an efficient city board of
health, a part of whose duties should be to
abolish the entire system of accumulative
privies, which are an utter abominaton and
disgrace to our civilization; to quarantine all
cases of scarlet fever and prosecute every par
emit who allows his child who had this disease
to associate with healthy children until all
danger of infection was past; to issue circulars
on health subjects and distribute them all over
the city; to vaccinate all children on their at
tanning certain age; to keep decent and in
telligible registration of deaths and contagious
diseases. All this might be done at trifling
cost and until it is done we must expect to
have more than third of our decedents less
than five years of age, instead of over seventy
five, as they ought to be.