San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-04-22
CONDITIONS OF HEALTH.
PURE WATER AND PURE AIR AND
CLEANLINESS REQUIRED.

The New Science OF sanitation and the
Progress 1t Has Made = England and
America Said to Lead in Contributions
to This Advancement.
water, air and cleanliness are the chief
articles Of my pharmacopeia." said Napoleon.
These trite words practically coveSthe entire
scope of sanitary science To eliminate from
the air smoke and noxious gases, to remove
from the water supply deleterious substances,
and to dispose of focal and refuse matter so
as to minimize annoyance and the possibility
of breeding contagious diseases is one of the
greatest problems of the age. How best to do
this is the question that sanitary science pro-
poses, and on the fullness and correctness
with which this question is answered depends
more of the well being and prosperity of
| community than the casual observer is won't
| to think.
GLORIOUS WORK OF SANITARY SCIENCE.
Sanitation is a matter not less of finance
and economies than of personal comfort, con-.
venience and longevity That health is, as
rule, the measure Of usefulness, and, other
things being equal, of wages, needs no proof.
That good sanitary conditions rank with COM
mercial facilities as one Ct the chief factors in
the growth of cities, and that unsavory or
unhealthy neighborhoods in a city are de-
pleted of population or turned over to the
poorer classes who have no alternative but to
endure what others shun. is matter of COM
mon observation The prevalence of sickness,
and especially contagious diseases, where san
itary requirements are not observed, the lack
of thrift and enterprise in such localities, and
the kinship of moral filth with unsanitary
conditions of person, have been themes for
innumerable lectures and homilies Wher-
ever sanitary science has made strenuous eff
forts to improve the physical conditions of
locality there have resulted less prevalence of
disease, gradual reduction of mortality, es-
pecially of infants, greater prosperity and
more marked longevity, and even the spirit
ualizins'o of the masses has advanced as de-
fects in material surroundings have been
remedied. 1t would seem that such common
place matters as ventilation, light, plumbing,
heating and sewerage-in short, good or bad
sanitary conditions-are more intimately
connected with the evils and excellences Of
our cities than are many other things to
which more attention is given
Sanitation is a new SCIENCE" said a civil
engineer who was asked to give an outline Of
recent Improvements in sanitation 1T is
only within the last fifty or sixty years that
public attention has been directed to the need
of improved methods and contrivances for
the purposes of health and convenience in the
construction of buildings Until compare
lively short time ago ventilation was con-
spieuous by its absence, and light was almost
equally disregarded. Adequate water supply
is subject whose Importance began to be
felt, so to speak, but yesterday. London,
for instance has not long abandoned its wells
and cesspools for a system of water works
and sewerage. How the great cities Of the
ancient world managed without such sanitary
conuivances as we now have and survived is
an enigma The crude makeshifts of early
times have been held responsible for innumer-
able plaques, disorders and epidemics, and
the growing recognition that many diseases
Of the present day are of germ origin-the
direct result of contaminated or poisoned
air, water or foods doubtless what has
made the last few years more productive Of
sanitary literature than any other period of
history.
INFLUENCE OF THE PRESS.
strangely enough, England and America
have produced the bulk of sanitary literature
and evolved the best schemes for freeing the
life sustaining agencies of noxious elements.
England and America probably stand Shout
der to shoulder in this respect, the former, by
common assent, being superior in the con-
structiOn Of sewers and the latter leading in
its sanitary fixtures, The publications of the
two countries bear witness to their respect
i've excelences. German research, by tracing
out the germ origin Of diseases, has rendered
signal service and been a stimulus to Ameri-
can and English inventiveness
Throughout these latter years Of develop
ment the influence of the press has been very
salutary. The newspapers have rather been
Lotto In, -, l..