ipii] Emily C. Seaman 3 



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Mrs. Richards realized the tremendous waste of human effi- 

 ciency due to ignorance of what constituted right living and over- 

 work under wrong conditions, and she tried to show this and to 

 present a remedy. She knew the individual must have the proper 

 valuation of hygiene, pure water, proper food, and Ventilation, and 

 also a right understanding of house construction and decoration. 

 She taught this in her lectures and in her writings. Health in the 

 individual she believed to be the foundation for efficient work, and 

 enthusiasm for health must be aroused if an effective life was to be 

 maintained. In the preface to her last and perhaps her most 

 important book " Conservation by Sanitation," Mrs. Richards 

 writes : " The sanitary engineer has a treble duty for the next 

 few years of sanitary awakening. Having the knowledge, he must 

 be a leader in developing works and plants for State and municipal 

 improvement, at the same time he is an e Xpert in their employ. 

 But he must be more ; as a health officer he must be a teachef 

 of the people to show them why all these things are to be. . . . 

 Knowledge vital to the health of the people should be made as ac- 

 cessible as possible at as little expense and trouble to them as may 

 be. There must be added the idea of making available this knowl- 

 edge as quickly and completely as possible even if some of the ap- 

 plication is premature." 



Mrs. Richards was so insistent on sanitary conditions for füllest 

 efficiency that she considered it much safer to err on the side of 

 over-precaution than to neglect an opportunity of conserving health 

 and energy. " It is better to believe that all dirt is dangerous 

 rather than to hold it of no consequence how thick the dirt lies. . , . 

 It is better to disinfect needlessly than to suffer longer the un- 

 checked spread of disease. . . . It should not be counted against 

 the sanitarian that he cried fire when there was only smoke and 

 sometimes even only dust with no danger of fire. It caused a 

 looking after danger spots, and was much better than the old 

 medical practice which usually locked the stable door too late. 

 Let the education of the people go on through mistakes, through 

 excess of zeal, if it must — but go on all the time it must. As ex- 

 perience accumulates, wiser means will be found. Let the sanitary 

 engineer seize his opportunity to lead in the application of all 

 knowledge to the betterment of living conditions." 



Most of Mrs. Richards' writings consisted of books and treatises 

 on the application of chemistry to questions of sanitation. It is 



