Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise., 1938-12-16
HEALTH DEPT.
ADVISES SEALS
AS A HOBBY
"Start This Year To Make A
Collection Of tuberculosis
Christmas Seals"

If you are stamp collector, or are
looking around for an interesting hob
by here is a suggestion from DR.. r.
H. Riley, Director of the Maryland
State Department of Health. eff you
haven't done so already" DR.. Riley
said, "start this year to make a col
lection of tuberculosis Christmas seals.
"Just as in postage stamps" he con
tinued, "there is some distinctive fea-
ture in each series of the tuberculosis
seals to add to it's interest. This year
it happens to be biographical. In the
corners of each sheet of hundred
seals, you will find the portraits of
four pioneers in the fight against
tuberculosis. First comes Theophile
Laennec, the young French doctor and
research worker, who, in 1919, acci-
dentally discovered, from observing
some boys at play, that sounds were
greatly intensified if listened to thru
some appropriate medium. He ap-
piled the principle, crudely at first,
and later developed it into what he
called 'stethoscope' meaning chest ex
aminer, device that is now an essen
tial part of the equipment of every
doctor. The stethoscope was only one
of Laennec's contributions to the ear
ly study of tuberculosis.
"In another corner is tiny por-
trait of Robert Koch, the great Ger
man bacteriologist, who in 1882, after
years of painstaking study, isolated
the germ that causes tuberculosis.
Koch's discovery eventually revolu-
tionized the treatment of the disease,
which for centuries had ranked as the
Captain of the Men of Death
PORTRAIT, number three, is that of
great American leader in the fight
against tuberculosis-E Edward Living
ston Trudeau-a young New York
physician, who developed the disease,
and, in 1873, went to the Adirondacks
to spend what he thought would be the
few years remaining to him, in his
beloved mountains. Instead of dying,
he began to improve, and took up a.
gain the practice of medicine. A trans
lation of Rocks report of his discovery
reached him. He communicated with
him; got a supply of the living germs
from Rocks laboratory, and began
his own study of them. In 1884, at
Saranac Lake he opened the first sana-
torium in the United States for the
modern treatment of tuberculosis. The
great laboratory and the sanitorium
that bear Trudeau's name were devel-
oped from these early beginnings. and
led the way for similar services in
other parts Of this country.
''The last portrait in the quartet is
that of Holboell, the Danish postal
clerk, who in 1904 suggested the use
of the tuberculosis Christmas seals,
as means of raising funds for the
fight againt tuberculosis. The idea
was widely adopted and the annual
Christmas seal sale soon became an
important way of raising money for
the tuberculosis campaign, in many
countries. Each country originates
its own designs and many are very
beautiful. All have one symbol in
common-the double barred cross that
is the mark all over the world of the
fight against tuberculosis.
"The seals sold in this country are
gotten out by the National Tubercu-
losis Association. The four tiny por-
traits are only part of this years
series. The remaining 96 seals in
each sheet of hundred, carry tiny
picture of family group and empha-
size the thought of protecting the
home from tuberculosis. The seals
sell for only penny apiece, and every
seal you buy, helps to carry on the
fight against the disease in this