234 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



of the food, clothing, exercises and amusements of school children. It 

 is probable that these matters should be made the subject of regulation 

 in the public interest, but should the board of health be the instrument 

 chosen to regulate them ? 



Obviously some limit should be placed upon the exercise of the 

 power possessed by boards of health when questions not strictly germane 

 to the sanitary welfare of the public are concerned. If no such limit 

 is placed, it is difficult to understand where the activities of boards of 

 health are to cease. Almost every act and occupation and nearly every 

 feature of city life may be construed as having some bearing upon public 

 health and welfare. Before a board of health sets out upon a campaign 

 of more esthetic than sanitary value it should be certain that all its 

 simple and essential duties are being efficiently discharged. There is 

 often much inconsistency in public health work. 



So extensive and so numerous are the conditions of modern civiliza- 

 tion which certainly affect health, that boards of health generally do 

 not pretend to cover them all. For example, the construction and 

 maintenance of public water supplies and sewerage systems, although 

 undertaken by the public at the public expense, are not conducted by 

 health authorities but by private corporations or special municipal 

 departments. Likewise the collection and disposal of garbage, and 

 even the cleaning of privies, is often done by other than public health 

 authorities. 



There is something incongruous about a board of health conducting 

 a crusade against smoke and noise and at the same time allowing the 

 streets to be filthy with dirt and dust and offensive with accumulations 

 of fermenting garbage. Again a great deal of the attention of health 

 boards is occupied with alleged private nuisances which affect comfort 

 but not health. The history of every city is a record of more and more 

 strict regulations to minimize the unpleasant as well as the unsanitary 

 conditions of household life. 



The work of boards of health has been, on the whole, very decidedly 

 for the advancement of the general welfare. The great reduction in the 

 general death rate and the more wholesome and agreeable conditions of 

 living of to-day as compared with those of a generation ago, bear ample 

 testimony to this success. If it be objected that other factors have been 

 at work to improve the sanitary conditions of cities, it must be answered 

 that much of the inspiration for this other work has come from health 

 authorities. It should never be forgotten that it is sanitation which 

 has made the growth of cities possible. 



Having thus briefly referred to the scope and bearing of public 

 health work we may pass to a consideration of the relation of city, 

 state and nation in protecting the public health. 



The authority exercised by public health boards is derivable from 



