TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT 



17 



mixture. The contractor was allowed to use the 1 : 2 : 5 mixture 

 in the construction work. If it had been known by the engineers 

 in charge before bids were submitted that this mixture was as 

 good as the 1:2:4, there could have been a large saving. Several 

 thousands of pesos were paid to private laboratories in Europe 

 and America for the purpose of ascertaining the suitability of 

 submitted samples of local raw cement materials for commercial 

 use. In most instances this Bureau in the beginning could have 

 done the work cheaper and more efficiently. The results gave no 

 definite information until the material was submitted to our 

 experts for examination. Our equipment for conducting inves- 

 tigations is much better than that of most commercial labo- 

 ratories, and our scientists are familar with local conditions which 

 must be considered. Scientific information will assist the manu- 

 facturer of coconut products, soaps, beverages, alcohol, sugar, 

 etc. Sugar planters' profits have been greatly augmented in 

 many cases by scientific information regarding the proper time 

 at which to crush their cane ; that is, when the cane contains the 

 maximum quantity of juice of maximum purity. 



2. Diseases of man. — Medical surveys have been conducted in 

 various parts of the Archipelago to determine the kinds of 

 diseases and their prevalence. These diseases have been studied 

 with reference to their etiology, pathology, treatment, immunity, 

 and prevention. Knowledge has been obtained for the treatment 

 and prevention of many of these that is of inestimable value not 

 only to the inhabitants of the Philippines but to mankind in 

 general. 



The diseases of man which have been investigated in the biolog- 

 ical laboratory include plague, cholera, bacillary dysentery, 

 tuberculosis, leprosy, entamcebic dysentery, balantidiasis, mala- 

 ria, helminthiasis, yaws, beriberi, meningitis, tropical ulcers, 

 gangosa, varicella, mycetoma, splenomegaly, rabies, hand in- 

 fection, and pinto. The first eleven of these are reviewed more 

 fully as follows: 



3. Plague. — Manila has suffered from two outbreaks of bubonic 

 plague during the past nine years, and a representative of this 

 Bureau went as the American delegate to the International 

 Plague Conference in China during the epidemic of pneumonic 

 plague in Manchuria in 1911. Therefore, abundant opportunity 

 and material have been available for the study of both types of 

 this disease. The investigation of pneumonic plague was based 

 on the material brought from Manchuria. The method of the 

 spread of this most contagious form of plague and the probable 

 reason why epidemics of this form occur only in cold countries 



122638 2 



