62 
time we hear him exclaim, “I do wish I could sometimes ascertain the 
exact juste milieu of work which will suit, not my head or will, these can’t 
have too much; but my absurd stomach.’ (Life and Letters, Vol. I, p. 
131). Herbert Spencer voices the same sentiment when he says, “I want 
a keeper to be always taking care that I do not overstep the limits on one 
side-or the other * * *.” 
We need not be surprised that Huxley and men of his type did not 
understand the influence of air conditions, when we consider that the 
best medical men, active practitioners of medicine, did not understand 
it. The two most eminent physicians contemporary with Huxley were 
undoubtedly Dr. Andrew Clark and Dr. Henry Thompson. These men 
were constantly sending their patients away from London. Dr. Clark used 
to say, “What you need is rest, pure air, cheerful companions, simple diet, 
and no end of out-doors.” They got results, patients improved, but they 
did not press their inquiry and seek the reason why. One can of course 
readily excuse them for the same reason upon which Huxley must be 
excused—They began work before the days of cellular pathology and 
bacteriology and did not take it up in their old days. Perhaps needless 
to say a knowledge of pathology and etiology is one of the absolute essen- 
tials in studying dust infection. 
Huxley had a rural ancestry and that means that there had not been 
an active weeding out through urban influences. When he first came to 
London as a young man he seems to have gotten along fairly well, but in 
time there was a greater and greater susceptibility to unsanitary urban 
conditions and he reacted to his environment. He lived in the West End 
where air conditions are good, and lectured at Kensington, which, as 
some of you know, is situated half way into the heart of the city. At 
first he could lecture several hours a day without difficulty, but after 
a time he complained that he could only bear one hour and that two hours 
‘does him up.’ Still later he was not able to do even an hour’s work 
under bad air conditions, but when he removed from the city and went 
to the South Shore, he was again able to do an almost unlimited amount 
of work. 
SYMPTOM NAMES. (Chart with all symptom names grouped was 
shown.) In looking over this formidable list of names, a few facts stand 
out. 
1. There is only one name that refers to a definite disease, that is. 
a disease with a specific cause: Influenza. 
