Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-06-26

90 not form a meaningless patchwork, but
show at the first glance a strikingly reell-
iar distribution. The one map forms al
most exactly complement of the other
The deep blue of cancer high mortality CO.
lncldes with the deep red of consumption
low mortality. Where the consumption
mortality Is highest that from cancer is
lowest. and on the whole. there is a sim
liar inverse correspondence between inter-
mediate rates of mortality
When the mortality maps are compared
win good physical map. it may be seen
that the structural features of the country
are IN direct relation to the death rates
The deep blue of cancer high mortality pre-
vaiis in low-lying, well-protected river val
ieys, where fully formed rivers flow down
TO the sea between low banks, cutting their
way through beds of clay and recent allu-
vial soil; in fact, where seasonal floods are
frequent and strong sea winds rarely flush
out the protected valleys, there cancer pre-
walls; and finds its latest harvest The
lower courses of the greater rivers from
the Tweed to the Thames and from the
Stour to tie lamar the rivers of North
Devon, the Severn and Dee are all thickly
set with the blue cancer patches ON the
other hand, the lowest mortality groups
occur on high upland downs along the
watersheds, and especially where ridges of
limestone rock rear themselves above the
surrounding country. In the sheltered val
leyS where cancer prevails, notwithstand-
Ing the dampness and periodical flooding
the very lowest mortality rates from con-
sumption occur. Inland from the low fore
shores and high above the protected val
leys. wherever strong sea winds prevail.
and along the lofty ridges like that form
ing the backbone of Wales the bIue of
consumption high mortality is to be found.
Not dampness. but exposure seems to be
the exciting physical cause.
Although the contrast between consump-
ton and cancer Is too striking to be purely
coincidence, 1t cannot be said that
enough is known to explain 1t by ultima tie
causes. The therapeutic value of exposure
TO constant supplies of pure air Is evident
enough in all diseases that affect the gen.
eral vitality Of the body. 1t is more than
probable that the low cancer mortality in
the exposed districts Is due partly to the
better hygienic conditions that prevail in
them. The pulse of life beats more slowly
and every bodily and mental activity is
feebler on the sodden soil of the dull val
leys where cancer rules But we do not
know how cancer gets from patient to
patient, nor If Its organism has become
purely parasitic on the bodies of animals
No doubt, all the microbes of disease were
at one time harmless vegetables living an
idylllc life in the mud. Some of them are
sun able to maintain an existence outside
the bodies of their victims. and the rela-
ton of cancer to clay soils and flooded
districts suggests that 1t may not yet have
reached purely parasitic stage. Other and
more specialized microbes apparently have
lost their primitive capacity to live a free
life, and their specialization is preparing
the way for their extinction. If the mi
crobes die unless they reach quickly
another living host, isolation Of infected
cases. carried out thoroughly, will ulti-
mately rid US of their existence.
The prevalence of consumption in the
otherwise healthiest districts Is an acct
dent of our contaminated land. On lofty
Alpine SUBMITS or where the sea winds
sweep across the decks of ocean vessels
or on the desert wind-blown sierras, peo-
pie are not struck down with consumption
and even those already affected unless
they are nearly at deaths door. find new
health in the keen air. But our own land
Is fun of the plague; the winds elsewhere
healing, bring with them new seeds of
disease. The slightest chill or the tickling
of delicate lung with salt air prepares
the way for the omnipresent parasite
Colds that would vanish in night in
healthy land become fatal here, and those
with a constitution unadapted to resist the
microbe fall victims to an exposure that in
Itself is iupocuous or even beneficial