New-York tribune., 1904-05-30
THE FUTURE OF TUBERCULOSIS

paper concerning the decrease of consump-
tion in New-Engand. by DR.. S. w. Abbott, sec
retary Of the Massachusetts State Board of
Health, has just appeared in pamphlet form
More complete records are available for the
Bay State than for the rest Of the region en-
braced in his survey. but there Is a general
agreement in their testimony. One of Or. Alb
bolts comparisons shows the difference be-
tween the average number of deaths from tu-
berculosis for the five years ending with 1896
and those for the five years following. In even
this short time the mortality in Massachusetts
fell from 2I1 for every 10000 people TO 1873
and in Vermont from 200 to 1873. In the other
States the change was not marked but
every one of them reported improvement 1t Is
safe to say. therefore. that to-day the rate is
not more than about 1S for every 10000. taking
New England a whole
An exceedingly encouraging fact is that the
dmnutiOn here indicated has been going on
steadily for a long period of time. though not
at a uniform rate. Definite figures for Massa-
chusetts are available for over half a century
In the thirty years beginning with 1853 the
mortality from consumption diminished from
1922 to 3OS1 for every million people, so that
at the end Of the period there Were only about
three deaths to every four at the beginning. BY
1902 the rate had fallen to .595 per 100000
Dr. Abbott shows that In old England an
equally gratifying change has occurred. In
fact, for reasons that are not obvious, the
mother country seems 10 he better OF than
Massa chusetts The mortality there for 1901
was only 2B4 per 100000. Parts or Cont
mental Europe tell the same story, so that while
exceptions to the rule exist, there can be no
doubt that tuberculosis is steadily disappearing
from the earth. A certain DIR. Hitler Is cred
tied by DR. Abbott with predicting that In Eng
land and Prussia IL will be extinct 'ln about n
generation" That prophecy ought 10 hold good
for America also, II the Improvement In Mas
sachusetts is fairly representative OF the whole
country. II tuberculosis still finds greater
number of victims on this side of the Atlantic
than in the most fortunate OF foreign lands. 1t
must be remembered that the decrease In NOR
tality is occurring here more rapidly now than
q quarter Of n century ago. Dr. Abbott has
such confidence in these indications that he
suggests q new use for the sanntoria which are
at present given up to consumptives. Event
unlly, he thinks, It will be practicable to util-
ize them for sufferers from cancer!
Profoundly gratifying is the exhibit here
made, It is not easy fully to understand It.
Modern methods Of treatment are more effica-
cious than the older ones, but reliance on pure
air and nutrition exclusively dates back only
fifteen or twenty years utip HS tht pay
sician has derived from Koch's revelation that
tuberculosis Is a bacterial malady has been
available only since 1882 Yet for thirty years
prior TO that time there was n remarkable de-
crease in the death rate from this disease. and
the decrease was maintained in spite of the
overcrowdng which naturally resulted from
rapid increase in population. Some influence
seems 10 have been at work, then which has
not been clearly recognized. 1t has been sug-
gested that one reason why the bubonic plague
does not make such awful inroads Into Europe
now as II did in the Middle Ages is that the
people have acquired n quasi immunity that
was not possessed before. or course, the chief
difference is In sanitation and quarantine. but
E,lropeans who reside In countries like India
are far less susceptible than were Europeans
at home four or five centuries ago. May it not
be possible that civilized nations are in like
manner developing greater natural powers OF
resistance to what has been aptly called the
great white plague?