The Princeton union., 1910-09-01

immune. But the monkey house was
the center of trouble. Here there were
practically only two causes of death
violence, for monkeys are great fight
ers, and tuberculosis, says McClure's
Magazine.
DR.. William A. Evans. pathologist
of the ZOO, performed an autopsy on
every animal that died. There were
fifty or sixty deaths a year, and 80
per cent of these were from tubercu-
1osls. When appealed to Cy De Vry,
the superintendent, called DR.. Evans
attention to the fact that so far as cir
cumstances would permit they faced
conditions of temperature as in their
wild states. ..
He had found that the average tenn
perature in monkey countries was IS
degrees f. The zoo monkey got that
out of doors in summer. When winter
came they were taken inside, steam
neat was turned on and their quar-
ters kept at about IS degrees.
Cold Air Doctrine Tried. -
The next fall the ZOO purchased its
usual consignment of monkeys, most
OF them fresh from the tropics and in
good condition. AS usual, though, five
mad been in this country long enough
to become sad and NANCY specimens.
having practically no hair and with
skin drawn tightly around their bones
feeble, timid and feverish.
At DR.. Evans suggestion these were
placed aside as safe subjects for ex-
pertinent, and as the winter came on
they were kept in a place where thew
were constantly. exposed to it's chill
Ing drafts. A thatched shelter was
provided into which they could re-
treat when the weather became too
ICY, but no artificial heat was supplied.
With the gradual approach Of winter
the monkeys showed as natural an in
cllnatlon for the cold, open air as their
healthy brothers did for the hot
drafts inside the monkey house. Pres
emily there appeared upon their ema-
c1ated bodies a faint sprouting of
halr, which grew thicker as the wealth.
er became more severe. Before the
winter was over all Of them had thick
brown furry coats; their muscles had
grown large and strong; they ate
eagerly and manifested an increased
desire for the favorite simian pastime
fighting.
But the twenty monkeys that had
entered the steam heated monkey
house in splendid physical condition
had not Jared so well. By spring not a
single one was alive-all had died of
tuberculosis.
The five outdoor animals, however
never showed the slightest trace of the
disease. And two of them are still liv-
Ing, strong, healthy, active and fero-
clous. though the cold air experiment
was made five years ago. OF the
other three one broke its back in a fall.
one died in giving birth to young, and
the third succumbed to paralysis.
Cy De Vry at once revised his philos
ophy Of animal hygiene; he recognized
that the point was not to make the cli-
mate adaptable to your animal, but to
make your animal adapt itself to the
climate. The Lincoln park ZOO, win
Ter and summer, became an open air.
cold air ZOO. AS a result of this reform
there is no more tuberculosis in the
park. In five years there has not been
single death from this disease.
; People Also Thrive.
Events soon gave this same DR.. Ev-
ans a large measure of influence over
health conditions in Chicago. When
Mayor Busse came into Office in Jan
uary. 1907, his greatest problem was
the selecting of health commissioner.
When he declared that he would ap-
point any man whom the medical pro-
fession should select a big committee
of Chicago doctors unanimously decid-
ed on DR.. Evans.
In an investigation early in his term
DR.: Evans showed precisely the kind
OF air that the people Of Chicago were
breathing. The laboratory experts re-
ported that in one of the largest the
aters the air was worse than that in
English prison cells. In the street
cars the passengers were breathing,
along with minimum quantities of oxy-
gen, microscopic particles of ''soot
sand, hair, starch, wool from cloth
ing" and other Materials This descrip-
ton. Of course. fits most American
Cities
Hygienists divide the contagious dis
eases chiefly into three classes as be-
ing caused by one of three things-im-
pure water, impure food or impure air.
Typhoid is the most important disease
of the first class and is caused main
ly by drinking impure water. Dysen-
terry is the most important of the Sec
ond, caused largely by eating impure
food, while the diseases most common
~ caused by impure air are tuberculo-
sis, pneumonia and bronchitis.
Everywhere modern science has made
wonderful progress in combating the
diseases caused by bad water and bad
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