The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-30
FORWARD STEPS IN CHECKING AND
 CURING DISEASE

The origin of disease and death has
 been a. source of speculation and in vesdgadon from earliest times In the process. many strange beliefs and superstttions have arisen, one of the most common of which, even among civilized peoples. has been that dis ease was caused by evil spirits Among
 civilized nations many extremely curious superstitionS as to the cause of disease have existed and are pre- valent even at the present time, an example of which is that of the Noot- kas of British Columbia, who believe that there is a miniature man in the head, and as long as he remains in an upright position the person keeps well, but when he tips over sickness or death follows To counteract the effects of evil spirits and prevent disease, many customs arose, among which was the wearing of amuIets or charms These were made of stone. metal or other material, some times engraved, and were carried up- on the person This superstitious trust was common among the Greeks Romans and Egyptians, and there are traces of it in the early Christian church Even now there are people among us of superstitious tendencies, who, in times of unusual prevalence
 of contagious disease. wear some thing in the nature of charms to pre- vent infection or illness, such as cam phor bags, horse cheStnuts, or horse- shoe nails
 In the past forty years great strides have been made in the cure and pre- Ventlon of disease, although there have been mistaken theories and some
 misdirected effort. Beliefs in the
 cause of disease and faith in cures
 have sometimes been akin to the
 older Superstitons. The character
 of some of the complaints received
 at the Board of Health indicate that there are still some who think that dirt or filth is in itself the source of contagious disease. This was a com l mon belief forty years ago, and led at that time to general cleaning
 up in an attempt to check epidemics. In this work the engineers and saui- tartanS played the principle role During this period, r,rivies were abol- ished, sewers constructed, supplies of pure water furnished, and tenement house conditions improved. While this had no bearing upon the spread l of diphtheria, scarlet fever or the so- l called minor contagious diseases, 1t i N1O IuS occurrence or IYphO1d I fever, banished cholera and had an | effect upon tuberculosis by improv- i ing the general average of living con- 1 dihons- The engineers and sanitari- i ans also eliminated yellow fever, and | are fast ridding the country of ma 1 laria-
 l Following the engineers and sani- 1 taZ1ans came the bacteriologist to | play his part in the prevention of dis
 ease by the detection of carriers, is olation of infected persons, disinfec- | ton of discharges, and treatment by the use of sera and vaccines To l this group we owe particularly the control of smallpox, the development l of anttoxin for diphtherfa, vaccina- l ton for typhoid fever, whoopine | cough, cholera and bubonic plague 1 There is still abundant work for the 1 engineer and sanitarian, and there is ground for hope that the bacteriolo- l gist will add to his already important l discoveries. However, Dr. Winslow
 of the Yale School of Medicine, says i that 'NThe greatest problems which ] we face today require for their. so- i lution not merely sanitation of the
 environment, not merely control o1 | infection, but in addition, and in even
 more important degree, attention to
 the individual habits of living. Ir l the future the engineer and bacter.
 io1ogist will, I believe, both yield te
 the physiologist the premier role il
 the drama of health protection."- l Hartford Heaih Bulletin