Evening star., 1901-06-15
MEN LIVE LONGER
What Hygiene and Sanitary Science
Have Accomplished.
MITIGATION OF HUMAN SUFFERING
Comprehensive Review Of the Last
century,by Or. kober.
THE FUTURE OUTLOOK

THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
Adaee was never truer than the old and
revered one that IAN ounce Of prevention
il worth q pound of cure" and medical
men and others interested in the promotion
and preservation Of human health have
been for long decades steadily and jealous
ly increasing the means Of such prevention
in their war with the formidable elements
Of disease.
The results of their wise movement were
described in an exhaustive manner in an
oration on state medicine delivered by Dr..
George M. Kober of this city. professor Of
hygiene at Georgetown University. before
the American Medical Association at st.
Paul the first week In June. The title OF
Dr. Kober's address was '"The Progress
and Tendency of Hygiene and Sanitary
Science in the Nineteenth Century
Explaining that hygiene was. a depart
ment Of medicine whose object was to pre-
serve and promote health and therefore
dealt with all factors likely to influence our
physical welfare, he said it was not an in
dependent science, but rather the applica-
ton of the teachings Of physiology. chemis-
try, physics. meteorology, pathology. so
GEOLOGY. epidemiology and bacteriology to
the maintenance of the health and life Of
individuals and communities. The subject
was very properly divided into personal
and public hygiene. In the former the doc
trines were applied to individuals, in the
latter to communities and states.
The impression held by some that hy-
giene was of modern origin was erroneous.
1t was practiced by the Egyptians. old In
dians. Hebrews Greeks and Romans, the
latter two paying especial attention to
physical culture and cleanliness. sewerage
and water supply. After reviewing the
pest and insanitary conditions of the mid
die ages, Dr. Kober said the nineteenth
century could boast of many advances in
hygiene.
Record of the United States.
''While the people of the United States"
he said. were not slow in adopting and
originating sanitary measures of great
value. our ideas of personal liberty, guar
anteed to US by the Constitution, evidently
prevented early legislation in matters of
public health for fear that such legisla-
tion might affect the personal habits of the
citizen and lessen his freedom of action.
DR.. Samuel w. Abbott, in his mastery ex-
position of The Past and Present Cond-
tion of Public Hygiene and State Medicine
In the United States records, however
the gratifying fact that the early colonists
recognized the need of preserving their rec
ords. which constitute the foundation stone
of public hygiene, by enacting a law in
1G39 that there be records kept of the days
of every marriage, birth and death of every
person in this jurisdiction
THE Importance of vital statistics is not
fully appreciated at the present day. and
yet as remarked by DR.. Billings, when we
wish to study the healthfulneSs of a city,
whether it is getting better or worse, or
judge correctly the effect of certain sani-
tary laws. we should not only know the
number of deaths, but also the amount and
character of the prevalent disease together
with accurate information as to the number
OF population at different ages 1t is
matter for regret, therefore, that even now
only ten state - Connecticut. Delaware
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New
Hampshire. New Jersey. New York Rhode
Island and Vermont-have anything like a
satisfactory system of vital statistics.
Vaccination of Thomas Jefferson.
According to Abbott: up to the close
Of the eighteenth century and for several
decades of the nineteenth. almost the only
health legislation which was enacted in the
different states in the Union consisted in a
few laws relating to smallpox since this
pestilence was scarcely ever absent for
many years at time from any city or vii
lage. till after the general introduction of
vaccination
DR. Waterhouse of Cambridge. having
secured a supply of vaccine lympb from
Dr. Jenner, introduced vaccination in Ros-
ton IN 1902 and DR.. Seaman in New York
IN Iool IN the same year President Jef-
ferson received some virus from DIR Water
house. and was vaccinated by DR.. Grant
of Georgetown. '
,oa: ne invasion of cholera from Canada in
IS32 and the epidemic of 1S4S-49 here as In
EUROPE aroused public interest in sanitary
reforms and the Legislature of Massac chm.
Setts In 1919 appointed a commission To
maze sanitary survey Of the state, and
We are told by DR.. Abbott that this was
dohe none too soon, for in that wear the
general sanitary condition Of the state az
SHOWN by the report of the commission
VIA, %as ht, hhsplorable and the death rate unusu-
n. a fay.
troduced public water supplies ChnIer,
was beginning to appear again and dvs
ehtery and other infectious diseases were
many years. ~ oeen lof
Health Boards.
NE" orleans having lost 5000 victims
os eiiolera IN ls52, out of a population of
ABOUT $4,000. and anxious to maintain a
quarantine secured the enactment of a law
III 1870 1or the establishment of a state
board of health: in 1869 more compre-
hensive board was established I, M,.
cnusetts, followed in 1870 by California
since which time nearly all of the states
ana territories-forty-tw in number-have
@ .o,oweu .ne example. Subsequently and in
iahy instances preceding the establish
meht or state boards of health sprung
lnto existence our local boards of health
VINO ADOPTED measures for the control and
restriction of infectious diseases for the
abatement of local nuisances for the sani
tary inspection of the food supply, schools.
public buildings and institutions and tene-
ments; street cleaning and removal of
refuse registration of vital statistics.
supervision of burials and Of municipal
water supply, sewerage and sewerage dis
posal care of bathing establishments. reg
ulatlon of offensive trades. etc"
Less Suffering and Longer Lives.
Replying to the question, Has human
suffering been mitigated and human life
greatly prolonged by efforts in sanitation p
Dr. kober said the answer was an en-
phatic Yes"
Prof Finkelnburg Of Bonn" he contin-
ued, estimates that the average length
OF human life in the sixteenth century was
only between eighteen and twenty years;