Year: 1878

was afterwards submitted to the
City Council, and from which we
have made the foregoing and fol-
lowing extracts, which will be found
by the reader to be not only inter
esting, but at this time, instructive.
/ THEIR INTRODUCTORY REPORT.


In their introduction to their re-
| port the sanitary commission state


''that in fulfillment of the important


trust cOnfided to them, they have
! deemed it to be one of the most


urgent duties to examine thoroughly


into the past state of the city, so far


as records could be procured to


attest it. Those extended beyond


halfa century, although the records


of many of the years were sparse
and imperfect. With occasional
exceptions the results have proved
very unfavOrable to its health in the
past; yet as sanitary guides and


beac0ns, they are regarded as full of
promise for the future.


THE CAUSES OF EPIDEMICS.


"There must" says the commits
sion, "eXist some cause for the great
insalubrity shown in the mortuary
returns. 1t certainly does not arise
from its cleanliness and the absence
OF those sources productive of di-
sease in every country. Then it
must derive its origin from those
conditions in which it differs from
other places that are healthy. 1t
must proceed from those circum-
stances which the uniform expert
ence of mankind has found to be the
cause of insalubrity elsewhere. Or
shall we abandon as useless all the
dear-bOught experience of our race,
and remain as we are despite our
recent severe and bitter affections :?
Are we forever to turn our face upon


the past, and to be made no wiser
by its valuable teachings? -? The
problem thus presented to us to
solve is not a new one; it has been


been solved a thousand times be-
fore; we give it again with the
special experience derived from our
locality and circumstances, and
with the same uniform results"


The commissioners go on to say:
''The value of general hygienic
regulations has been extensively
commented upon in a subsequent
report that of personal hygiene is
hardly less important upon this
depends mainly not only our per-
sonal comfort, but health and it is
in many cases the only substitute
for sanitary regulations of more
general nature, affecting the entire
community, and is of special value
to us here where the latter have
been sO-much neglected. That they
are more appreciated than formerly
is shown by the remarkable fact
that about halfa century ago leprOsy
existed to such an extent in New
Orleans that it was deemed neces-
sary to erect a hospital for its special
treatment Ga quantity of land in the
rear of the city having been apprO-
priated for that purpose), and there
are still surviving among us those
who have a lively recollection of
that loathsome malady. 1t, too,
has yielded to the ameliOrating
hand of civilization and modern
comfort, or climatic changes, and is
now confined to the inferior grades
of society in Cuba and Mexico.


When the general principles OF
hygiene shall have been as widely
extended over the city, our epidemic
and epidemic fevers will in like
manner disappear, and we may
again enjoy that salubrity which
was once our wont.


The causes of this insalubrity have
been most carefully scrutinized, and
lit is our deliberate conviction that
they are fairly ascribable to local
conditions which are mainly re-
movable. A reference to some of
them here, the principles applicable
to them, and the recommendation
for their removal or abatement, will
not be inappIicable in anticipation
of the reports themselves.