314 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Lack of space forbids a detailed statement of tlie work which 

 at the close of the first decade had gained such a momentum that 

 thirty-seven boards in as many States have been formed, young 

 Oklahoma bent on having every improvement that can attract 

 immigration bringing up the rear. Most of them are composed 

 entirely of physicians. No commendations are too strong for 

 these true knights of science, who, in the spirit of "truth for 

 truth's sake," have labored unceasingly and unselfishly to pro- 

 mote preventive medicine. 



The modern State Health Board is a highly organized educa- 

 tional machine, in each State employing experts to investigate 

 the mistakes and errors, the needs and advantages of the region. 

 At the first menace of invasion by cholera, yellow fever, or small- 

 pox the State is at once transformed into a camp of instruction, 

 through the myriads of pamphlets and leaflets that fly on the 

 wings of every outgoing train to the farthest hamlet or lumber 

 camp or mine, in many tongues a true pentecostal dispensation 

 of saving light and knowledge. It is twenty-five years since 

 the first one drew its first timid breath. State medicine is now 

 rapidly growing and will be a giant. Its twenty-fifth birthday 

 seemed a good milestone at which to pause and, in mercantile 

 parlance, " take account of stock." A circular letter was sent out 

 to all the secretaries as follows : 



1. When was your State Board established ? 



2. To the reform of what sanitary errors or abuses did it ad- 

 dress itself ? 



3. What obstacles did it encounter ? 



4. What positive results has it effected ? 



5. By what methods does it promote sanitary and hygienic 

 reforms ? 



From all but three, careful, painstaking, and most courteous 

 answers have been received, often accompanied by documents of 

 inestimable value, both as presenting a graphic picture of sanita- 

 tion to-day in the localities whence they come, and as a mine of 

 sanitary information.* 



* The names of the gentlemen thus kindly favoring me, and of the States to which they 

 belong, are as follow : Alabama, Jerome Cochrane, M. D. ; Arkansas, D. W. Holman ; Cali- 

 fornia, J. R. Lane, M. D. ; Connecticut, Prof. C. A. Lindsley, M. D. ; Delaware, F. B. Fra- 

 zer; District of Columbia, W. C. Woodward, M. D. ; Florida, Joseph Y. Porter, M. D. ; 

 Illinois, J. W. Scott ; Indiana, C. N. Metcalf, M. D. ; Iowa, J. F. Kennedy, M. D. ; Kansas, 

 M. O'Brien, M. D. ; Kentucky, J. N. McCorraac, M. D. ; Louisiana, W. R. Harman, M. D. ; 

 Maine, A. S. Young, M. D. ; Maryland, James A. Stewart, M. D. ; Massachusetts, G. W. 

 Abbott, M. D. ; Michigan, Henry B. Baker, M. D. ; Minnesota, C. N. Hewitt, M. D. ; Missis- 

 sippi, Wirt Johnson, M. D. ; Missouri, R. C. Atkinson, M. D. ; New Hampshire, Irving A. 

 Watson, M. D. ; New Jersey, W. D. Mitchell, M. D. ; New York, J. S. Barnes, M. D. ; Rhode 

 Island, Gardner T. Swarts ; South Carolina, H. D. Frazer, M. D. ; North Carolina, Richard 



