The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-11

be gained it, at least in the existing hos
pita4S. which had to admit a great num-
Der Of consumptives at any rate, special
wards We're established for them, in
which pecuniary facilities would be Of
fered4theEn. If only a considerable frac-
ton OF the whole number of cOnsump
tives were suitably lodged in this way. a
diin1nuttcn Of infection and consequently
OF the sum total Of tuberculosis could
not fail to be the result The only COun-
try that possessed considerable number
OF special hospitals for tubercular pa
teatS was England and there could be
no doubt that the diminutiOn of tubercu-
@ losis in England which was much great
er than in any other country, was greatly
due to- this circumstance. He should
point to the founding of special hospitals
y for, consumptives and the better utiliza-
ton of the already existing hospitals for
the lodging of cQnSumptiVeS as the most
important measure in the combating of
III tuberculosis and its execution opened a
wide field of activity to the state, to mu-
inequalities and to private benevolence.
IRere were many people VINO possessed
great wealth and would willingly give of
Q. their superfluity for the benefit of their
poor and heavily afflicted fellow crea-
. t3reS, out did not know how to do this
- in a Judicious manner. Here was an OPP
poTtUnity for them to render real and
lasting service by founding consumption
:. hospitals or purchasing the right to have
a certain number of consumptive pa
ztAAfltss I'm siHtained IN special wards of
other Hospitals free of expense. AS how
-eXeE.-uufartupatel the aid of the state,
the municipalities and rich benefactOrs
sWeu4d probably not be forthcoming for
| long time yet, we must for the present re-
sort to other measures that might pave
the way for the main measure just re
| ferred to and serve as supplement and
Temporary substitute for it.
NOTIFICATION AND EDUCATION.
Among such measures he regarded OBJ
llgatory NOTIFICATION as specially valuable.
In the combating of all infectious diseases
! 1t had proved indispensable as a means
of obtaining certain knowledge as to
their state. especially their dissemination
their increase and decrease. In the con-
! f1ict with tuberculosis also We could not
dispense with obligatory notification; we
needed it not only in order to inform our
selves as to the dissemination of this dis
ease, tbdts mainly in order to learn where
lthelp and instruction could be given, and
especially where the disinfection which
was so urgently necessary when con-
sUmpttves died or changed their residence
| had to be effected. Fortunately, It was
! not at all s1ec esSary to notify all cases
of tuberculosis, nor even all cases of con-
sumption, but only those that owing to
the domestic conditions. were sources of
danger to the people about them. Such
limited NOTIFICATION had already been in
troduced IN various places, in Norway,
foi instance by a special law in Sax
Cny by ministerial Decree in New York
aand in several American towns which
had followed its example. In New York,
NIl0iG I4OIlilCdllOI was ODIlOldl at IlrST
and was afterward made obligatory, it
had proved eminently useful. It had thus
been proved that the evils which it
used to be feared the introduction of
notification for tuberculosis would bring
about need not occur, and it was de-
voutly to be wished that the examples he
had named might very soon excite emu
lation everywhere. There was another
measure closely connected with notihca-
tion-namely, disinfection-which. as al
ready mentioned, must be effected when
! consumptives died or changed their resi-
dence. in order that those who next &C
cupied the infected dwelling house might
be protected against infection More
over, not only the dwelling houses but
also the infected beds and clothes of con
sumptives ought to be disinfected A
| further measure. already recognized on
all hands as effective, was the instruct
ing Of all classes of people as to the in
fectiousness of tuberculosis, and as to
the best way Of protecting ones self The
fact that tuberculosis had considerabI
diminished in all civilized states of late
was attributable solely to the crculn-
stance that knowledge Of the contagious
character of tuberculosis had been more
and more widely disseminated and that
caution in intercourse with conservatives
| had increased more and more in conse-
Cuepce.
SANATORIA.
Another measure which has come into
the foreground of late and which at that