IX MEDICINE, SUMGEKY, ETC. <)1'.) 



As icpjrds ])ievtMi1iAT public iiie<liciiic and sanitation, we liavr not 

 made so many valualilc contributions to the ^voild's stock of know led, i;e, 

 cliietly l)ccausc, until <|uitc recently, we have not had the stimulus to 

 persistent <'lllbrt which comes tVom density of i)oi)'.!]ation and its com- 

 plicated relation to sewage disposal and water supi)lies; nor have we 

 had the iuformati(Ui relative to localized causes of disease and (h'ath, 

 which is the essential foundation of i)nl)lic hygiene, and which can only 

 lie obtained b\ a proper system of vital statistics. We can, however, 

 show enough and to spare of iuver.tions in the Avay of sanitary a])[)li- 

 ances, tixtures, and systems for house drainage, sewerage, etc.; for the 

 ingenuity of inventors has kept i»ace with tlie increasing demands fbi- 

 protection from the etfects of the (leconii)osition of waste matters as 

 increase of knowledge has made these known to us. The total nundter 

 of patents granted for sanitary appliances during the last decade (1880- 

 1S90) is about 1,17."), If good tixtures necessarily involve good phnub- 

 iug woik we could easily make our houses safe so far as drainage is 

 concerned; but a leaky joint or a tilled trap makes the best a])pliance 

 worthless. The im])ulse to imitrovements in this direction lias come 

 maiidy fiom England, where most of tlie }uinciples of good work of this 

 kind has been developed: but we have devised s(mie details better 

 adapted to our climate and modes of construction, and while many of the 

 })atent traps and sewer-gas excluders are only useful in the patent-law 

 hense, and some not even in that, it is nevertheless true that the safety, 

 accessibility, and good appearance of ])lumlber's work has been hirgely 

 im-reased during the last few years by patented inventions. Much the 

 s;ime may be said with regard to heating apidiances, including venti- 

 lating stoves and fireplaces, radiators, etc., but I am unable to express 

 any enthusiam with regard to what are commonly called i)atent venti- 

 lators. 



No doubt the greatest progress in medical science during the next 

 tew years will be in the direction of prevention, and to this end mechan- 

 ical and chemical invention and discovery must go hand in hand with 

 increase in biological and medical knowledge. Neither can afford to 

 neglect or despise the other, and both are w-orking for the common 

 good. If the American ])atent system has not given rise to any spe- 

 cially valuable inventions in practical medicine, in law^, or in theology, 

 it nnist be due to the nature of the subjects, and not to any fault of the 

 system. 



