130 THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE 



other diseases with excellent results. Fur- 

 ther, just as the discovery of the cause of 

 scabies proved the absurdity of many 

 of the old prescriptions for the preven- 

 tion and treatment of that disease ; so 

 the discovery of the cause of splenic fever, 

 and other such maladies, has given a new 

 direction to prophylactic and curative 

 measures against the worst scourges of hu- 

 manity. Unless the fanaticism of philo- 

 zoic sentiment overpowers the voice of 

 philanthropy, and the love of dogs and 

 cats supersedes that of one's neighbor, the 

 progress of experimental physiology and 

 pathology will, indubitably, in course of 

 time, place medicine and hygiene upon a 

 rational basis. Two centuries ago Eng- 

 land was devastated by the plague ; clean- 

 liness and common sense were enough to 

 free us from its ravages. One century 

 since, small-pox was almost as great a 

 scourge ; science, though working empiri- 

 cally, and almost in the dark, has reduced 



