114 , THE MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



saliva of /persons who are ill with either of these diseases contain the 

 'specific germ, but probably the more dangerous person is the one who 

 is not ill with either of the diseases, but whose sputum contains the 

 germ and is therefore capable of spreading the contagion. Non-sus- 

 ceptible persons may carry and spread the specific germ of any given 

 disease without themselves contracting the disease. In order to rem- 

 edy the evil then it is necessary to educate all "spitters," to eradicate 

 entirely this filthy habit. In our mortality records what do we find to 

 urge us on in this fight against the spread of consumption and pneu- 

 monia? During the year ending June 30, 1903, there were recorded in 

 the city of Detroit a total of 5,171 deaths from various causes. The 

 disease causing the greatest number of deaths -was pneumonia with 405 

 victims and tuberculosis stands second on the list, having caused dur- 

 ing the one year, 329 deaths. In a leaflet recently published by the 

 Michigan State Board of Health, Ave find the following statement: '*In 

 Michigan the most dangerous communicable diseases, named in the order 

 of their importance as causes of deaths during the ten years ending in 

 1897, were consumption, pneumonia, diphtheria, etc. Averaging the 

 mortality statistics collected under the new law for the three years, 

 1898-1900, the latest yet compiled by the State Department, the order 

 of importance of the dangerous communicable diseases, as causes of 

 deaths, was as follows : Consumption, pneumonia, meningitis, influenza, 

 typhoid fever, diphtheria, etc." A little further along this same leaflet 

 tells us : "Pneumonia is rapidly replacing consumption as the greatest 

 single cause of deaths in Michigan." In each of the statistical tables 

 above referred to, smallpox stands at the bottom of the list as a cause 

 of death in Michigan — it was formerly at the top of the list. Now con- 

 sumption and pneumonia are vying with each other for first place. 

 Smallpox was forced down from its exalted position by sanitary meas- 

 ures and reforms, the enforcement of which was made possible by pub- 

 lic opinion. The public feared, hated, dreaded smallpox; the public 

 wanted the disease stamped out. Vaccination was offered by sanitary 

 science as the one principal preventive measure — public opinion, after- 

 many years of education, asserted itself, demanded vaccination and 

 smallpox was forced to the bottom of the list of death-causing commun- 

 icable diseases. The same result can and must be accomplished with 

 consumption and pneumonia. The public must learn to fear and hate 

 these diseases, the public must demand their restriction. Sanitary 

 science says one of the principal preventive measures is the abatement 

 of the spitting nuisance. The public must demand its abatement. In 

 this way one of the most important problems in sanitary science today 

 may be solved. 



In quoting from the leafiets of the Michigan State Board of Health, 

 it may have occurred to some of you that in the compilation of causes 

 of deaths for the ten years ending in 1897, diphtheria was the disease 

 immediately following pneumonia, making diphtheria third in import- 

 ance as a cause of deaths in Michigan. In the statistical table for the 

 years 1898 to 1900, diphtheria was sixth on the list. This reduction in 

 the mortality of diphtheria is again a demonstration of the value of 

 preventive measures recommended by Sanitary Science and carried into 

 effect by the aid of public opinion. Isolation and disinfection in cases 

 of diphtheria are the preventive measures that have been in vogue for a 



