New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-14
SANITARY SCIENCE.
A SCEPTICAL VIEW OF THE SUBJECT


Dbble, NJ d. Up. 4e2. J. b. Llpplncott Company.
Even the people who are satirized in this
book. If they have proper capacity for enjoying
good thing, should get some pleasure from
the pain of their castigation. There is 10 neeh
Of taking sides here with DR.. Dibble AS Is
said sometimes of women. he has tongue OF
his own Whether right wrong, he mas no
lack Of argument. Ii is n characteristic SUPER
etition of ssvages that human being can die
a natural death. If man Is not kliIed III
Aoht his demise must he due 10 witchcratt or
demoniac agency, or 20 a stroke from ,he gus
Essentially. DR. Dibble intmatcs that the popu-
lar view of disease in modern CIVILIZED NATIONS
Is different only in degree from that OF saVaeeS'
and he depicts sanitary science as merely the
formal statement of popular credulty HIS booK
q. n natural outcome of the revulslon IN THESE
closino wears of the nineteenth century against
theories which have dominated England ana Inc
United States and 10 less extent other couh-
tries for a generation. II is inspired py '"o
soepticism which, along the whole line OF recent
speculation and ancient tradition is demanding
10 know what the airy, sky-scraplng structures
of physical science, of haowed theology are
built upon, and what the material Is that mas
core into their construction The answers that
are given TO this scepticism are by no means S"i'
factory. What the qucstioncr wants are proofs
or less useful TO Investigators and theorists o'
@hc nineteenth century, but which require "
y. tested anew in the dawninc light OF ne"
AGE II is only one OF the '""''
ures proudly raised by the last genera'lo" an"
larced and decorated by the present one VIII" VIZ
author seeks not merely to test, ou. u %
throw. lie grants, to begin with' '"e "''''E'
i.h;, cer,sin narrow limits, of what ne prac
tically denounces superstition '"'i'"'S
science has had the indirect result OF proho''nS
nersonal and public cleanliness Dun ne ="
sists that the purpose which IL almea "'' VIZ
,essening of certain classes OF dlsease' Las NV
been attained that the average oui'''oi
hrrnar lie has not increased since the invchuon
49,. .;ono. as rapidlv as IT did before such
a sciencc was thought of: in snort 'n"' u"
,,ho,. svstem of modern sanitation, from
.,r;ctlv scientific point of view, ls-not 10 "'
o. An. a phrase-a humbug. IT, says he'
q. hodv Of men. for speculative purposes VI
4. certain number destitute OF lnousuN an"
ta,.nt in the phenomena of nature ana 'i'n "'o"
ny irritable mediocrity to aspire 10 NE hoi''''''
soisntists: or, if amateur phllanthroPlS'S' ""'>
chief object in life is 10 break 'ie "o"o'S
NJ an elegant leisure-if any, or a.! oi '"o'N'
,o anpease their thirst for the puoIlc hVn''
mr. 70 satisfy their lust for power, OF 10 "c"s
their vanity combine 10 impose on ''e Pop"''-
mind TO excite fear and panic oE p'e.e"'i"e
that the air, water, SOIL food ana puoii0 'i
movements are so beset by perls 10 near" ",O
rts that they cannot be enjoyed by the pubic
- ,bev arc controlled through legislative
enac,ments. by the spectators, psHudo-s,ieh'is's
.na Observation-Disclosures, il is the privilege OF
.ha medical practitioner TO declare the humous'
7, ,,s nromoters take the ground that, uhlcSS
,ba terrors of disease and death are por'raAe"
os the penalty the danger Is great 'ldV .'
common herd will relapse into paroarlsii NV"
and misery from elegance and comior'-'hen "
for each physician TO Judge how far ne Will
land himself TO extend and perpetuate the de-
fusion" ~
The general plan of the book is very simple Altr
briefly and it must be said very lhaoeqW''eN'
outlining the history of devices for the prevention
Of dise ase in ancient and mediaeval uihes' cn"p
ter IA devoted to the popular movement haif
o.r.urv gro in Great Britain which grew out OF
investigations of the conditions of the iaporln9
c,assss The conscientious qualms OF the Well
,o-do neople respecting their fellow beings III
,;s,r.ss soon took the form, DR.. Dibbe intlnates'
of unreasoning terror in their own behaii lhous"
the London poor had never been otherwise IMAM
miserable and filthy and ovorcrowdel' Ee'' III"
that the facts were known, they We're interpreted
IA having a totally different meaning from '''''
which they had before. People conioundea inc
discovery of state of things with tlie origin .,
that state Of things 1t was if the poor had
..a.,ord,v been wel-fed and wetistrbutedI
clean and contented, and to-day Were wretchei'
crowded and diseased. DR.. Dibblc does not i@nor,
tho facts brought out by the investigations am
H. is TO be presumed approves of reform III
only points out that the condition of the people
and the state of the public were not shown by
scientific tests 10 bear that relation to each other
which was asserted by the new reiorrners
Tie rise of sanitary science IN the United
States is ascribed by the author wholly to that
familiar principle, It's so English, You know"
Having thus sketched the history of the new
movement, he takes up the principles which II
advocated, under the heads OF air, water, soil,
sewer-gas cemeteries, public funerals, meat milk,
filth diseases, so-callcd typhoid fever yellow
fever, cholera, diphthera, epldemlcs in general,
and then descends upon boards Of health ana
upon vital statistics. These various chapters
are made up largely of quotations from public
this country and of European nations, most OF
which represent the ordinary views OF the day
and are countervaibd by other quotations froni
scientific men and by references TO statistics
This method Oh the face of II Is III accordance
with the usual practice OF scientific contro-
versy. 1t would be necessary, however, to 20
merits of his argument In general way, he
may be said TO contradict in the most positive
manner every proposition that sanitary science
has advanced. He would have filth removed
because it is bad in itself, and he would urge
cleanliness because IL Ii good IN itself; but that
the one is a cause of disease, or the other
prophylaotic against it, he holds apparently as
an opinion of no more scientific value than the
superstitions of medieval times when the as
tute reformer discovered the etiology of cpl
denies in xhe Vaccinations Of the Jews, and
his prophylaxis consisted in first robbing and
then roasting and hanging these unhappy
people, He denies that the decay of organic
mats, THAT drinking-water, that contact with
o corpse, that meat or milk In natural con
dition have any recognizable effect on diseases
He asserts the utter uselessness of quarantine
regulations and lie more than intimatcs the
futilty Of boards Of health.
DR. Dibble advises several classes Of people
not TO read his book. On the other hand, those
timid people who for the last thirty years have
had their waking hours vcXed and their sleep
plagued by an unceasng process ion of sanitary
terrors are invited TO read it. 1t may comfort