The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-13

The report OF Secretary-Treasurer
Brown showed that he received s25 and
paid out S11.75, having now in hand
sl3.25. There are bills awaiting pay
ment for considerable more than the
amount now ON hand.
EVENING SESSION.
The evening attendance was aug
mented to an appreciable extent by the
presence of the county medical society,
which attended the convention in lieu
of the societies regular meeting, which
was scheduled for last night.
The first business was the receipt of
reports from the allied boards of health.
c. NJ. Halfway, of the Blakely board,
said his borough was in good sanitary
condition. and that the people support
and encourage the board. George Coop
er, of Priceburg, had nothing to COM
plain Of excepting the throwing Of slop
water on the streets. John O'Hara, OF
Throop, reported having had an epi-
demc of scarlet fever and measles,
which the board handled very success
fully. No member of the Scranton board
was present at either session.
DIR. j. L. Rea read the first paper
of the evening. His subject was Anti
toxin" He gave a very interesting
treatise of the question, saying among
other things that had antitoNin been
employed generally in the United
States, during the past five years, the
lives of 100000 dlphtberia patients
would have been saved. In his own eX-
perience he used the antitoXin in 109
cases and IL was effective in every
instance but one, and in that case the
patient had been treated for five days
by a doctor who was not favorable to
antitoXin. DR.. Rea virtually said that
if antitoxin is used within a reason
able time after diphtheria is contract
ed it is simply an impossibility for the
child to die of diphtheria. He pooh
poohed the idea that antitoXin has a
deleterious after-effect.
DR.. Dean, in commenting on the pa
per, said that boards of health should
make provision to supply antitoNin to
those to whom it is beyond reach be-
cause of it's eXpensiveness, on the same
principle that a community makes
small pox matter Of general public
interest.
DIR. G.. Edgar Dean read an able prac-
tical paper on Good and Bad Lights"
treating on the relative merits of the
different forms of interior illumination.
In speaking or shades, he said red
lights were very trying to the eyes,
and that light green, natures own
shade, was the easiest on the eyes.
when Should Drinking Water BE-
Boiled and Why?" was the subject very
Interestingly treated by DIR. +. D.
Brewster. He answered these ques-
tions by saying that whenever it is
suspected that water contains patho-
genie germs, that is animal or vege-
table poisons, it should be boiled, as
heat destroys those germs and makes
the water wholesome. When an epi-
demic is raging it is absolutely neces-
sary that water should be boiled. The
discussion which followed the reading
of this paper developed the fact that
malaria is quite prevalent in this city
this year, something never known be-
| fore.
Dr. w. j.. Allen, who was TO have
| spoken on "Fumigation," and DR.. II. V.
Logan, whose subject was bicycling"
! failed to put in an appearance. None
| Of the chairmen of committees were
| present in the evening, and the reports
| consequently had to go over until the
next semi-annual convention in April.