1284 LIFE : OUTLINES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 



revolution, in hospitals and their cases alike, was fully going in 

 Edinburgh (though then in London scoffed at as "the Scotch fad"), 

 Pasteur sent him a bright young French Army surgeon to learn his 

 technique. On July 4, 1870, he was recalled by telegram to the 

 French war- front; so spent the hours before train-time in buying 

 up a goodly outfit of antiseptics and dressings. But on reaching the 

 front, and unpacking his treasure-load, his medical chief said, 

 "What's the good of this! Send it back to Paris!" so condemning his 

 soon abundant wounded. In the Boer War, in which the death-rate 

 of our troops so vastly exceeded that from Boer bullets, public 

 feeling caused the sending out of an eminent non-military surgeon. 

 Sir Frederick Treves, whose report is still remembered as describing 

 the Army's medical outfit as but "of archaeological interest". But 

 in the subsequent Russo-Japanese W^ar, all then known scientific 

 precautions were taken by the Japanese, for wounds, drinking 

 water, etc., and even to the soldier's washing not only himself, but 

 his shirt also before action, so assuring him ready convalescence 

 from a clean and properly treated wound, while the Russian too 

 often died of a dirty one. Thus, in fact, it was not until the Great 

 War — a full generation and a half after Lister's clear demonstration 

 of war's need of cleaned wounds, and yet longer after Pasteur's of 

 its need of clean water, that there was medical and surgical efficiency 

 more or less on all sides (though least so on the Russian), and thus 

 even more millions saved than those killed. 



Take again the current slum-clearing movement, now at length 

 actively awakened — forty or fifty years after its needs were seen, 

 and even its methods were demonstrated. But even now, see how 

 many a substantial old building, quite capable of sanitation and 

 repair, is condemned by the rough-and-ready inspection of municipal 

 committees, or even their engineers, from its being undeniably 

 repugnant at first sight, as dingy and smelly too; but too much in 

 ignorance that really poisonous germs are inodorous, and that 

 nothing that smells badly, outside or in, but could be removed — 

 of course along with the really pernicious germs too, and yet more 

 easily — in course of cleansing, sanitating and draining, ventilating 

 and whitewashing; and thus often renewing, easily and economically, 

 its old pleasing aspect, and even enhancing this: while if it still 

 interferes with the straight lines nowadays so wastefully pushed to 

 excess on the plans of nearly every improvement scheme, that is 

 often so much the better — not only for beauty, by relieving their 

 mecljanical monotony, on the whole still increasing— but also for 

 homeliness within, and without also, since affording corner spaces 

 within which children can safely pla}^, and elders sit, and both can 

 sometimes even garden. In such ways — speaking with experience 

 from Scottish and Irish as well as English towns and cities to Indian 

 ones, and of many between — it is not only possible, but easy, given 



