The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-10-23

great men anu Nomeh WI" h"'N S'S
eumbed ultimately to the tubercle
bacillus. which is and has been for gen
srations the most potent of all death
dealing agencies. Had it not been for
this detcstabye parasite, Keats might
have given us another Endymion; we
might have taken another Sentimental
Journey" with Laurence Sterne; Rob-
ert Louis Stevenson might have con-
tinued to delight us; Schiller might
have given us another "Song of the
Bells;n we might be reading more of
Stephen Cranes war stories. Had the
bacillus allowed, Chopin might have
dreamed another "First Polonaise;"
Nevin might have charmed us with an
other ''Rosary'' and the tender flute
of Sidney Lanier might even now be
heard. Biehat, Laennec, Henry Purcell,
John Sterling, Artemus Ward, Thoreau,
Spinoza, John Arlington Symonds,
Prosper Merimee, are but few of the
world S nobility whose precious lives
were cut off in their prime by the Great
White Plague.
And our sense of sadness at our loss
is mingled with resentment that this
enemy is so minute that it was reserved
for Koch in our generation to discover
it by the microscope and to reveal its
life history and habits 1t is worthy
of the pen of some great writer to set
forth how although our mastadons are
extinct, although we might easily de-
stroy all visible brute creation, al
though we consider ourselves world
masters, the race has nevertheless until
our time been impotent in the presence
of an organism measuring in length
10000 of an inch, and In breadth
100000 of an inch, an organism which
multiplies so rapidly and insidiously
that the consumptive in coughing emits
several billions of it during twenty-four
hours.
There would be no excuse for put
ting such sinister details before the
members of the Social Science were it,
not that the condition of things which
we term consumption or tuberculosis is
a tremendous human factor-manifest-
" medical science cannot cope alone
and unaided with this difficult and pro-
digious world problem; all the forces
of society-economic, legislative, soci-
illogical, humanitarian-must be en-
listed.
Today every third or fourth adult
dies of consumption. In the period be-
tween birth and senescence every
seventh death is caused by it. The
point to be brought out in these two
propositions is this: Very few of us
die merely of old age; almost every one
dies of some disease or other so that
Il would not seem to matter much what
the particular disease might be that
would carry us Off. But although all
periods of life are precious, it is dur.
ing adult life that consumption accom-
plishes its deadly work-in the period
when men should be strong to work
for and maintain their families, when
wives should have strength to rear their
children and when men and women gen
orally should have physical and mental
capacity to accomplish the worlds
work.
We may perhaps wonder how, with
all the billions of bacilli about, any
one of us escapes the disease. The fact
is the bacillus allows very few of us
to die without leaving some trace OF
It's activity in our bodies. The Ger.
mans have proverb, "Jedermann hat
am Ende Elm bischen Tuperculose, -
and it has been demonstrated in over
30 per cent. of autopsies of persons
dying of all sorts of diseases that some
hsiiu Of the tubercle bacillus is pres
ent.
There are two conditions essential ia
the development of consumption. In
the first place, there must be the pres
euce of the bacillus as its specific cause
In the second place the boey must bt
predisposed to the disease by various
unhealthful factors such as heredity
alcoholism, poverty and unhygienic con
ditions.
There are estimated TO be 5,00000I
deaths per year in the world from
tuberculosis causes annually more thar
100000 deaths in the United States a
the average age of thirty-five years
At this age the normal after.time il
about thirtytwo years so that the rea
loss of life covered, measured in time
is represented by 100000 years pc
annum. If we assume that the ne
value of year of human life afte
the age of thirty is at least $50 tn
real loss to the nation resulting fror
the disease may be estimated at $40
100000 per annum. Osler computes tina
there are at least million and qual
ter cases of tuberculosis in the Unite
States all the time. These are more o
less in the position of invalids Assam
hot ono fo,rtl 80 than, ammo.