CIVIC BIOLOGY 441 



No complete figures are available for the World War, but it is 

 certain that never before have the modern principles of sanita- 

 tion, vaccination, serum treatment, surgery, and the relation of 

 insects to disease, been so thoroughly applied. 



Vaccination against typhoid was compulsory, the anti-tetanus 

 serum was universally used, new methods of treatment for in- 

 fected wounds, devised by Dr. Carrell and others, were in constant 

 use. Every soldier was provided with iodine to sterilize a wound 

 and aseptic bandages to make a temporary dressing. 



As a result of these various applications of biologic science to 

 army methods, the loss from infectious disease was very low. " If 

 the Civil War death rate had obtained in the recent war, we would 

 have lost 138,518 American soldiers from typhoid, dysentery, 

 malaria, and small-pox instead of 273, which was the actual num- 

 ber," says Dr. Henry Smith Williams in one report (Dec. 1919). 



We are waging a winning fight against disease and this chapter 

 will touch briefly upon some of the methods by which it is being 

 carried on. We are all soldiers in the army of Public Health and 

 cannot be too well informed as to what must be done to gain com- 

 plete victory. 



Food Control. Almost every town and city has regulations as 

 regards food inspection. The stores, bakeries, slaughter houses 

 and milk stations are under supervision of official inspectors. 

 Foods must be protected from flies, bread must be wrapped, 

 food animals examined as to their health, and fair weight and 

 measure must be given the purchaser. 



Water supplies are provided at enormous expense, the water 

 shed is carefully guarded from pollution, the water itself is filtered 

 and chemically treated to remove bacteria. Chemists and 

 bacteriologists are constantly employed to attend to these 

 matters. 



Milk has always been a prolific source of disease among young 

 children and every means is now taken to secure its purity and 

 freshness. The farmer must have healthy cows and healthy men 

 to care for them, he must have clean stables and sterilized cans 

 and utensils. The inspectors of state or city enforce a list of rules 



