2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 63 



worthy the name were entirely unknown. The enemy once revealed 

 in its hiding place, and various facts in its life history determined, 

 the logical result was a gradual — very gradual — dawn which prom- 

 ised better things. Now the world has seen a great light and we 

 wonder how intelligent men could have dwelt in those caverns of 

 ignorance and even refused to come out for years while the men 

 in the laboratory beckoned with signs which then seemed so uncer- 

 tain but now so clear. As late as 1890 the medical mind did not 

 grasp the necessity for preventive measures. As one asleep it heard 

 voices but was slow to waken ; it starts and rubs its eyes and looks 

 about, waiting for some word or message that will bring it to its 

 senses. 



It was in 189 1 that the first society for the prevention of tuber- 

 culosis was organized. This was started in France by M. Armain- 

 gaud, of Bordeaux. The second w^as the Pennsylvania Society 

 for the Prevention of Tuberculosis organized in Philadelphia in 

 1892. These were the pioneers in Europe and America. They 

 devoted their energies to a campaign with three cardinal features : 

 (i) the education of the public in reference to the nature of the 

 disease and its means of prevention; (2) the passage of suitable 

 laws regarding notification, the restriction of expectoration, disin- 

 fection, etc.; and (3) the care of consumptives and the establish- 

 ment of sanatoria by public or private means in suitable localities. 



The wonderful growth of this movement for preventive measures 

 is now seen in the establishment of 1,228 societies for the prevention 

 of tuberculosis in America alone, and in the erection of 527 sanatoria 

 in this country (1913).' The State of Pennsylvania alone has appro- 

 priated in one Act of Legislature $2,000,000 for this purpose and 

 one citizen of the state, Mr. Henry Phipps, has given an equal 

 amount for the scientific study as well as the practical treatment 

 of this disease in all its bearings.^ 



' The State of New York leads all other states in the number of new organi- 

 zations and institutions established during the last two years. The total 

 number of beds for consumptives in the United States now exceeds 33,000. 



^The Pennsylvania legislature appropriated $1,000,000 in 1907, $2,000,000 

 in 1909, $2,624,808 in 191 1, and $2,659,660 in 1913 for tuberculosis work alone. 

 This is under the direction of Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, the Commissioner of 

 Health. 



There are at the present time two State Sanatoria in Pennsylvania in 

 operation. 



Mont Alto, Franklin Co. 



No. of patients under treatment 957 



Elevation 1,650 ft. 



