610 ANNUAL KEPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



arduous industries and the like is real, if it can not be accurately 

 determined or estimated. Certain activities of a health department 

 may be worth continuing for their educational value, although their 

 direct utility may be questioned. Many topics need investigation 

 in order to discover their real bearing upon the public health. 

 Among these are such matters as the effect of a smoky atmosphere, 

 the alleged nervous strain due to city noise, and numerous important 

 questions in the domain of food adulteration and contamination. 

 Premature and drastic action by health authorities in matters con- 

 cerning which there is profound disagreement among experts may 

 cast discredit on other lines of activity in which there is and can be 

 no difference of opinion. 



For the present it seems worth while to emphasize more sharply 

 than heretofore the distinction between public health measures of 

 proved value and those that owe their existence to tradition or to 

 misdirected and uninformed enthusiasm. Further study of the 

 results obtained by certain of the usual and conventional health 

 department activities is also much needed, and as a preliminary to 

 such study the proper collection and handling of vital statistics is 

 essential. It is poor management and unscientific procedure to 

 continue to work blindly in matters pertaining to the public health, 

 to employ measures of whose real efficiency we are ignorant, and 

 even to refrain from collecting facts that might throw light upon their 

 efficiency. 



