1918.] NATTJRAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 131 



water. The city water supply at this time was unfiltered, the 

 domestic household supply usually being purified by boiling. Filters 

 were installed. In 1902 the Committee on Hygiene began volunteer 

 medical inspection of the Public School children in Philadelphia, 

 the first place in Pennsylvania to undertake such work. 



It was while working in his capacity on the Committee on Hygiene 

 that the genius of the man of science stimulated the completion 

 of plans and models (practically invented) for scientific construction 

 of outlets from wash-basins, sinks, and bath-tubs. An illustrated 

 bulletin by the Commissioner of Health as late as May, 1914, shows 

 how actively his interest in such devices continued throughout his 

 busy career as a public health administrator. 



As early as 1890 in the annual oration on hygiene before the 

 Pennsylvania State Medical Society in convention at Williamsport, 

 Dr. Dixon gave evidence of public health foresight by visualizing 

 the future work of a State Health organization. In this address, 

 which was later in good part repeated before the State Board of 

 Health Of Pennsylvania on Friday evening, May 15, 1891, Dr. 

 Dixon practically forecast the work of a great State Department 

 of Health. Its development came fourteen years later. In that 

 address Dr. Dixon was consistent with his work in later life in that 

 he outlined ideal precautions for protection against tuberculosis, 

 and even suggested a Cabinet Minister of Health to be as useful 

 as a Cabinet Minister of Agriculture for essential national 

 organization. 



Dr. Dixon's foundations for administrative work in sanitary 

 science were well and deeply laid in the twenty- two year interval 

 between the time he gave up law to study mecUcine and during the 

 period of his teaching and research work. When the invitation came 

 to him from Governor Pennypacker in June, 1905, to organize the 

 State Department of Health, provided for by the three Acts of the 

 Legislature of that year, he came to the work with foundation 

 training in science and big business such as no other man in America 

 had. Dr. Dixon had nothing whatever to do with the drafting 

 of the legislation or securing its adoption. In his pursuit of knowledge 

 of preventive medicine, so far as is known, he had not done so with 

 any thought of accepting an executive position such as was offered 

 him by the Governor. The laAvs creating the Department were 

 drafted by Dr. Charles B. Penrose and it was almost wholly due to 

 the skill, patience and devotion of Dr. Penrose to a subject in 

 which he had become intensely interested while serving as a member 



