Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-05-02

RECEIVE ATTENTION.
DR.. John : Billings in the MAJ Form,
AT the last meeting of the Public Health
Association of Germany, in Wurzburr each
member received a handsome volume entitled
"Wurzburg. insbesondere seine Einrichtunp
fur Gesundheitsphege und Unterricht:' that
Is, Wurzburg. especially its institutions for the
care Of pnblic health and for education. a
"FestSchrift or memorial volume. dedicated
to the German Public Health Association pre-
pared at the request of the city. and published
at its expense, by the sanitary association Of
the city.
Mnrzburg is a university town of a little over
10000 inhabitants. about the size of Whining
ton Del. or Dayton Ohio: smaller than New
Haven, Conn, or Cambridge Mass Tho
feStschrift contains chapters on the geology,
chmatoiogv. ground water river history popu-
iatlon and death rates of the city and on its
water supply. sewerage, public baths abattoirs,
gas works. schools. hospitals, public disinfect-
Ing establishment. modes of caring for the
dead, prison. parks. laboratory for examining
suspected articles of food and drink and on the
university and its laboratories and appendsges-
some OF these chapters prepared BY officers
OF the CITY. others bv professors of the uni
verslty, and those requiring it are well illus
buildings
IL IL. In short n complete manual Of WurZ-
burS IN Its sanitary and educational relations
such book as every educated citizen OF the
place wou-d be glad 10 possess and as every
parent who was linking of sending his son to
the university would wish to examine. We
have nothing like it for any city IN the United
States. and il must be confessed that If any Of
our municipalities were to set about the prep
arstiOn and publication of such work the re-
Suits Womb probably not be very satisfactory
when compared with the WurZburg Festschrift
INTEREST AMONG CITIZENS.
The great majority Of the jewellers in our
cities have not heretofore taken any active per-
sonal interest in the sanitary condition of their
respective towns. They NAV grumble occa-
sionally when some nuisance is forced on their
notice. but. a rule. they look on the city a
sort of hotel, with the details of the manage
ment of which thew have desire to become
acquainted They employ certain paid servants
to look after municipal affairs. There is a
board of health a heath officer, whose bust
ness it is to prevent or mitigate nuisances. to
stop epidemcs and to keep the death rate low:
there are engineers to manage the water works
sewage disposal. &C.. and there are newspapers
to criticise and instruct the authorities upon
any and every possible subject connected
with the cleanliness and healthful ness of
the place. The individual citizen, if he thinks
about the matter az all. usually concludes that
this n all that need be done. and that il the
results not wholly satisfactory tney must
be accepted the necessary outcome of
ponies or the weather. and DO not involve him
in any responsibility. Quite recently. how
ever. there seems to be a growing interest in
sanitary matters in our cities. and people are
asking whether the death rates are higher than
they ought to be: whether the city is in good
condition to resist the Introduction or spread
OF cholera. and 20 what extent it Is worth
while 10 expend money to secure pure water,
clean streets. odo-les- sewers, &c. IL seems
desirable that this curiosity should be Grati:ied
rs far possible wherever it exists. and TO thfs
end 1t Is proposed 20 present to the readers of
the Forum some information to the health
fulne-s. sanitary condition and sanitary needs
OF a few of Ou- large cities
THE MEASURE OF HEALvHFrLNEss
The best measure of the healthfu,ness o. a
given locality. whether it he a house. a block
a ward or q city would be the amount of sick
ness m proportion to the population during a
given time: but this measure can Use only
In rare instances. because we cannot ascer tain
the amount of sickness. The next best meas
i the number OF deaths which occur in
each thousand Years of life. that is. in a thou
sand people living year. or one hundred
people living ten wears. in the locality. being
what is commonly called the annual mortality
or death rate. To ascertain this We must have
the number of deaths recorded during the
year. or. better. daring a series of years-and
the mean population for the period in question;
and to draw reliable and useful conclurions we
mus. be able to calculate the death rates sepa-
rately for infants. adults and old people. and
for different parts OF the city. Mere gross
death rates for the total population OF n whole
city give us very little useful information. Take,
for example. the following table of death rates
of certain American cities for the year ending
June I. 1890, in which still births are reckoned
As deaths: