The log cabin Democrat., 1911-05-31
HOOKW0RM MOST
PREVALENT DISEASE
ONE IN FOUR have IT
DIR. MORGAN SMITH DESCRIBES
TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF
DISEASE.


in the State of Arkansas is a sufferer
from hookworm disease was the rath-
er startling statement of DR.. Morgan
Smith of Little Rock, who delivered a
lecture on the subject at the court
house in this city last night. Hook
worm is the most prevalent of all dis
eases in Arkansas said DR.. Smith
land it is also one of the most easily
prevented diseases and one of the
most easily cured diseases. 1t saps
the vitality of one-fourth of the citi-
zens of Arkansas, rendering them in
sufficient in both mind and body, ana
the economic loss to the state from it,
to say nothing of the physical suffer
ing it brings, is something stagger-
ing"
A fairly large audience was out to
hear Dir. Smith, who was introduced
by Prof O. d. Longstreth of the de-
partment of science at the State Nor
NAL Due to the fact that he was UNI
able to secure many of his stereopti-
can slides for the lecture, DR.. Smith
devoted portion of his address to a
discussion of other preventable dis
eases. He also commended the Ar
kansas legislature for the passage of
an act creating state board of pub
lie health, which he said placed this
state in the front rank along this
line
Insanitary conditions, DR.. Smith
stated, are responsible for almost all
of the diseases with which our citi-
zens are afflicted. 1t is the duty of
the teachers, he said, to disseminate
such information as would prlng about
more intelligent efforts for sanitation
and thus prevent the loss of many
lives and effect the saving of millions
of dollars. Tuberculosis alone costs
the state of Arkansas So, 100000 8
year, Dr.. Smith declared and this dis
ease may be easily prevented, il only
the sputum of the consumpti.e is
properly cared for.
Malaria, said the doctor, il con
tracted in no other way than IRON
the bite of an anopholes mosquito
which had previously bitten a persof
infected with malaria. Permitting
empty tin cans to be filled with rain
water and breed mosquitoes, he stated
is responsible for large part of Ar
kansas malaria.
"Flies are the most dangerous ami
mails on earth" said DR.. Smith. I'll
there were no flies there would be
practically no typhoid fever and nc
bowel diseases" The speaker graph
ically described how the fly dissent
mates disease. He said the number
of flies can be reduced to minimum
by covering all barnyard manure with
lime and keeping the premises free
from all decaying matter, as it is only
in such places that the fly can breed
Besides this, he urged that all houses
should be carefully screened and the
flies which get in quickly killed.
DR.. Smith repeatedly stated that ev
erv householder can easily and almost
certainly prevent these diseases IN his
own family and is criminally negligent
if he fails to do so The Inscription
on many tombstone at the head OF
little grave should be changed salc
DR.. Smith. "Instead of saying Coo
took our baby it should, if it told The
truth, read: Flies took our baby,
Neither flies nor mosquitoes ever e
far from their breeding places, he
said, and the chances are that all OF
the pests that infest our homes are
bred on our own premises.
In commenting on the condition ol
premises, DR.. Smith took occasion tt
say that Conway seemed to him to pt
the cleanest town in the state. "Wher
go to a town." he said, 81 care very
little about seeing its fine buildings
or it's handsome homes. | want lc
know about its back yards and alleys
If these are as clean and well KEEP
as its front lawns, then | know 1t Is
a good town to live in.
Passing then to a discussion OF the
hoollworm disease, DR.. Smith told II
an interesting way, the history OF TINS
disease and commented on its preva-
lence in the south. He described the
nature of the hookworm, stating that
it finds it's natural home in the human
intestines, where it fastens itself ano
sucks the life-blood of its victim. The
female worm lays its eggs in this po-
sition, which are carried out in the
excretions and hatch put in the soil
| nthis condition, he said, the embryo
worm can survive for II months.
From the polluted soil in which 1t
lives, the worm, still a microscopic or
ganism, penetrates the skin of bare
footed children and is carried in the
blood to the intestines. DR.. Smith
displayed several slides showing the
manifestations of the disease, and
said it could be eradicated in few
years by the construction of sanitary