The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-18
CONSUMPTION'S SQUIRE
It Is Discussed Before State SAM
tary Conference in Session
in St. Paul.
Report of the Committee on Tuber-
culosis Favors Enforcement
of Isolation Rule.

Consumption is not hereditary but is
altogether the result Of infection. 1t is
durable when treated promptly. It is
disseminated chiefly through the failure
of patients to destroy dried sputum The
necessity for this precaution and for
other sanitary measures. should be i'm
pressed upon sufferers and their associ
ates. The patients should usually be sent
to sanatoria and these institutions
should be provided a public expense. 2
Such were the conclusions unanimously
reached this morning at the state sanitary
conference in st. Paul in discussion of
tuberculosis e :;
President H. M. Bracken; of Minneapo-
lis. In his address upon trea tment Of the
tuberculos said that no greater error had
been made than the old practice Of con-
cealing. from the consumptive the nature
of his disease. This practice arose from
two erroneous assumptions that the dis
ease would necessarily prove fatal and
that knowledge of his malady would de-
press the patient: 49,. .....
DR.. Bracken- favored laws requiring
that health authorities be notified of every
case Of actual or supposed tuberculosis.
In relating the growth of the movement
for public sanatoria DR.. ;Bracken men,
toned that many private institutions had
been established in Germany by working
mems insurance associations which had
found it cheaper to cure members in
sanatoria than to pay sick benefits and
death losses. ~.-,..-
Report of Committee.
The report of the committee upon tuber-
culosis was read by DR.. H. L, Taylor, of
st. Paul. He pointed out that the ray
ages Of leprosy were once as great
throughout Europe as are the. rayages
of consumption now Leprosy was prac-
tically eradicated by. the relentless en-
forcement of isolation as prescribed by
the Mosaic law. A more humane and less
eventually make consumption rare
in highly civilized communities as leprosy
is now. -
+: Long Skirts DepIored. =.
The committee recommended that ex-
pectoration by consumptives in public
places except into. proper receptacles,
should be prohibited. Long skirts were
much to be deplored; they gathered the
germs Of consumption from the sidewalks
and conveyed them into homes. Infants
crawling about the floor then collected the
germs beneath their fingernails and thus
carried them to their mouths. There
should be sanitary control Of stores and
factories. Through such regulations Eng
land had reduced by so per cent its death
rate from consumption: .'i'''.
DR.. T. S. Roberts of Minneapolis, speak
ures), declared that the germs of con-
sumption were rare ytaken taken into the
stomach. Without advocating DR.. Koch S
theory that bovine tuberculosis is not
transmissible to man. DR.. Roberts said
that there were few germs Of the disease
in the milk Of tuberculous cows and that
these germs would probably be destroyed
! by the stomach secretions. Kissing, how
ever was ar cal danger, and no consun1p-
tive hould be kissed on the mouth. The
use of saliva in finishing cigars or .ciga-
rettes at factories should be forbidden by
law. The public should learn also that
not only alcoholism, but even the use of
alcohol. increases the :consumptive ten
dency. !. ......... ~. -....--.s
-, Worse Than Birds on Hats.
: DR.. Roberts added his condemnation to
long skirts, the prohibition Iof which, he
said. was much more important than the
prohibition Of birds upon women's hats.
The treatment Of tuberculosis at the
Muskoka sanatorium. Gravenhurst. Ont,
was described by DR.. J. H.. Elliott of that
institution. Climate, hes aid, was of lit
tie Importance in. curing consumption
The only = climatic consideration was
whether the patient can get outdoor exer-
else every day. Twenty to- thirty per
cent Of the patients in sanatori are abso-
lutely cured, and 25 per cent, often many
more, are practically cured.
In another paper upon "Sanatoriun
Treatment Dr. Arnold ,Krebs of Chicago
urged that patients be encouraged to exer-
else rather than to rest. q,
Meet Next eYar In Minneapolis. -
Before adjournment this afternoon the
| sanitary association voted to meet next
December in Minneapolis
DR.. Burnside Foster Of st. Paul, was
elected president; w. B. Patten Of Duluth
| first vice president; DR.. Ed Keyers of Wi
mona, second vice. president; DR.. E. H
Bayley of Lake iCty, secretary; DR.. Frank
Corbett of Minneapolis, treasurer. The
executive committee will be: DR.. A. &C.
Rogers of Faribault:. Professor G.. B
Frankforter of Minneapolis. and DR.
Henry Hutchinson of st. Paul 1, AZ: