Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-08-29
ABOLITION OF DRINKING GLASS AND
COMMON TOWEL PREYEN1S INFECTION

@ H#H- |wENHtNh H&g
Buffalo, N. X, Aug. 2S.-Dr. Charles
V. Chaplin, commissioner OF schools
for the state Of Rhode Island, was
among those who addressed the
fourth international congress on
school hygiene, now In session in
Buffalo. Dr.: Chapin subject was the
d%isinfection of school rooms, and he
spoke in part as follows:
1T is first necessary to inquire how
much contagious disease is really con.
tracted in school, and what is the
mode of Infection. 1t is a common
belief that the schools are the princi-
pal factor in the spread of many con-
tagious diseases. Because a scarlet
fever and diphtheria are much less
prevalent during the summer, and in
crease during autumn, it is argued
that the increase must be due to
school attendance. 1t is, however,
clearly shown by figures derived from
various cities, that there is no real
correlation between these diseases
and school attendance, but rather be-
tween them and the seasonal temper
allure.
Detailed study of cases also shows
that very few cases of scarlet fever
and diphtheria are contracted in
school. 1t is otherwise with measles
and whoOping cough, the spread OF
which seems to be greatly facilitated
by school attendance. That other con
tagious diseases OF Importance are
spread in school we have no evidence,
Personal Cleanliness Factor.
The way to prevent infection in
school is to teach personal cleanli-
ness. Abolish the drinking glass and
the towel used in common. Keep
careful watch of contagious diseases
and exclude them. Then, il desired,
though It is of little. importance, the
desk Of, the patient and other things
touched by him may be thoroughly
cleansed with a ~disinfectant, il you
will. The fu:nigation of school rooms
is a concession to the prejudice OF
the past"
Museum cooperation in the teach
ing of school hygiene and sanitation
was the subject selected by Dr.. C.,E.
A. Winslow for his address. DR.,
Winslow, who is curator of public
health of the American Museum OF
Natural History, New York City,
spoke in part as follow:
IN the hall of public health of the
American Museum OF Natural His
tory we have now, after three years
work, installed three fairly complete
series of exhibits dealing with water
supply and public health, with the
disposal of city wastes and with bac-
terra, while a fourth series, illustrat-
ing the relation of insects to disease,
is well under way.
Models Of Insects Installed.
1.-The relation of insects to disease
is d particularly fruitful field for mu-
scum work and is the one upon which
we are chiefly engaged at the pres.
ent time. The American museum al
ready has in its department of in
vertebrate zoology wonderful enlarg-
ed models OF mosquitoes and the de-
partment of health has just installed
a model of the housefiy, enlarged for
ty diameters. which took its skilled
artist.mOdeler, Ignatz Mateusch, near-
" a year to complete. A wide series
of facts bearing on the life history
of the fly are illustrated, as we'll as
the relation of the fly to disease, the
practical methods for its control and
the results achieved thereby. A sim
lar, but more enlarged model of the
flea Carrier Of bubonic plague) is
now under preparation, and we have
already installed models, some small
and some life size, dealing with the
rats which harbor the plague microbe
and from which the flea carries it to
a "a"
1.-THE opportunity for future devel-
opment here, and in connection with
the mosquitoes Of malaria and yellow
fever, and a score Of other disease
carriers, is a tempting n which we
hope to develop in the next few years.
"sThis hall is our first opportunity
to serve the public schools in the
work of health education. They bring
their classes to the museum in one
Of the periods allotted to civic biol
ogy, and in an hour with these models
and diagram learn more than they