GENERAL PAPERS 95) 
THE RELATION OF GENERAL BIOLOGY TO MEDICINE 
AND DENTISTRY FOR THE PEOPLE 
V. A. LatHam, CHIcAGo 
“It is characteristic of Science and Progress, that they con- 
tinually open new fields to our vision.” (Pasteur.) 
Preventive Medicine, when viewed in its broad, general 
sense, indicates not only the prevention of disease and its con- 
sequences to the individual, but of still greater import to the 
mass of people. So does the Teaching Forces and Medical 
inspection of schools primarily concern themselves with the 
individual, thereby deserving a permanent place in the efforts 
being made to understand and eliminate disease and conserve 
health; and also in a far reaching way, it embraces the better- 
ment of the masses both in its hygienic and economic aspects. 
Organized beings are continually acted upon by their en- 
vironment, and life is an expression of their continuous reac- 
tion. When reaction ceases, the organism becomes the passive 
prey to surrounding forces, life is extinct and has been suc- 
ceeded by death. Living, the organism withstood the force of 
gravity and raised itself from the earth; maintained an equable 
temperature despite the surrounding alterations from heat and 
cold; retained the moisture of its tissues against the drying 
influence of the encircling air. In reacting against its environ- 
ment, a living organism acquires its development, so that the 
endless struggle so bound up with life is not without advan- 
tages. So long as the organism is able to maintain the equilib- 
rium of its functions, the condition is described as health. All 
creatures, however, are only capable of reacting against a spe- 
cial and very limited environment, hence a relatively narrow 
one. An Aviator succumbs to the rarefied air and cold before 
an altitude of 9,000 meters is reached, unless properly pro- 
tected. Whilst the immense weight of water crushes in upon 
the Diver who dares brave the watery depths. 
Civilization and disease go hand in hand, and the physician 
of today is to teach preventive medicine more than to treat 
