224 president's address — section i. 



seriously, and demanded in their work the instruments of precision, 

 public recognition of the value of those methods will assuredly 

 follow; in fact, an imperative public demand will arise. 



As bas just been said, however, the profession, realizing, as 

 they do. very fully, the need, yet have realized, equally fully, the 

 impossibility of commencing the education of the public until 

 the' necessary equipment for applying these accurate methods is 

 available. As each medical man cannot provide all the equip- 

 ment and the knowledge which are essential, it follows, obvio'Usl3^ 

 that there must be provided some form of common service whereby 

 each n)edical practitioner can have access to either the necessary 

 instruments and apparatus, or to some specialist who has both the 

 uecessary knowledge and the equipment. 



In the metropolitan areas such a service is already largely pro- 

 vided by hosjiitals, by specialists, and by laboratories. It is the 

 provincial towns and the countiy distiicts which are at a disad- 

 vantage in this respect. 



It is clearly desirable that the facilities indicated should be 

 available in all principal countrv centres, but it must be apparent 

 that, practically, this desirable end cannot be reached all at once. 

 If some providential i)iterpositiou should make available, all at 

 a blow, the necessary equipment at points from which the whole 

 population could be served, there would yet be difficulties of in- 

 sufficiency of trained men, of general administration, and of the 

 necessary public recognition of the value of the measures. This 

 indicates the necessity for regulated development in the applica- 

 tion of these modern precise methods to the whole range of clinical 

 medicine. 



That a commencement shoiild be made in this direction is clear 

 to all who have realized the j^csition as it is to-day. This com- 

 inencement. should be made by providing at the hospitals and the 

 larger of the e:- tra-metropolitan towns the necessary equipment 

 for exact clinical diagnosis. 



While, however, the range of equi])ment is so extensive that it 

 will take time to provide all that is necessary, there is one branch 

 of medical science which is not only easily served with the neces- 

 sary equipment, but is in itself so important that its claims should 

 receive first consideration and its demands should be satisfied 

 before other demands are examined. The prevention of disease 

 should be the first aim of medical science, and in the process of 

 the education of public opinion, the stage has been already reached 

 when tlie public are demanding that all the resources of modern 

 knowledge shall be applied for the prevention of disease. 



The technical apj)aratus required for the application of many 

 of the laws of public health, for the control of infectious disease, 

 for the prevention of water and food poisoning, and other matters 

 of preventive medicine is not unduly extensive, has in the main 



