D6 
ized this important branch of medicine and made it a most important fac- 
tor in the conservation of human life; the discovery of selective chemical 
substances for the treatment of specific diseases, such as quinine for 
Inalaria. Salvarsan for syphilis and most recently ipecac for amebic dys- 
entery and pyorrhea. 
In sanitary science the development has been most remarkable. This 
includes its practical applications in sewage and garbage disposal, street 
Cleaning and the sanitary construction of pavements, the sanitation of 
heating and ventilation of factories, workshops and schools, the medical 
inspection of schools, the sanitation of railway cars, and stations, and such 
special sanitary devices us individual drinking cups, dental lavatories in 
‘ailroad cars, and the various applications of sanitation to the farmhouse 
and rural dwelling. 
The above outline, which is obviously incomplete, suggests some of the 
things which science in its various branches has done that have been and 
can be applied in the conservation of human life. Granting that science 
has done all of these things and many more, I would raise this important 
question: Is the public at large getting the full benefit of all of this 
scientific work? Is the public taking advantage of these discoveries of 
science? In my opinion it is not. 
Notwithstanding intensive efforts on the part of state boards of health, 
extension departments in our universities, instruction given before farmers’ 
institutes, educational activities of anti-tuberculosis societies and insur- 
ance companies, we find the death rate from preventable diseases decreas- 
ing very little if at all. In some communities the deaths from preventable 
diseases are on the increase. In our own State we find very little change 
in the last ten years in the deaths from |:reventable diseases. 
This Academy is of course particularly interested in Tudiana. Can 
not this Academy suggest or recommend ways and means to apply through- 
out this State the various developments of science relating to health and 
disease prevention in such a way as to create a healthier and longer-lived 
citizenship? A commission appointed recently in Massachusetts to inves- 
tigate the high cost of living stated— 
“The increased vital efficiency of the citizens of this State (Mas- 
sachusetts) which would result from a conservation of the present 
waste of health would, if expended in labor, increase the earnings 
of those whose health is impaired and also lessen the burdens of 
