392 ADVANCED PHYSIOLOGY 



Public Commissions and Boards for Safeguarding 

 Public Health.- The Board of Health, with the co-operation 

 of other Commissioners and Committees, keeps vigil over the 

 health of the entire city. Other bodies which act with them 

 or under their direction are the Water Commissioners, Street 

 Commissioners, Milk and Food Inspectors, and School Nurses. 

 Among the larger responsibilities of such public officials are 

 the prevention of carelessness as to food and water supplies, 

 condition of streets, garbage disposal, the prevalence of noise 

 and smoke, the ventilation of stores, factories, and public 

 buildings, the quarantine of infectious diseases, and provision 

 of opportunities for securing recreation and fresh air for all 

 classes. Their work is said to be that of securing public 

 hygiene in contrast to that science and observance which 

 makes for the health of the individual and is called personal 

 hygiene. 



It is very apparent that only scientifically trained men 

 should be chosen members of Boards of Health, for the lives 

 of hundreds, or hundreds of thousands, are in their hands. 



Public Water Supplies. The greatest care should be 

 exercised to secure pure water for towns and cities. Public 

 reservoirs must be filled from sources entirely uncontaminated 

 by refuse from human habitations and must be kept pure. 

 Leaves and dying plants should not be allowed to collect in 

 them, as they become breeding places for bacteria and other 

 unicellular organisms injurious to health. 



Conduit pipes and faucets must be of materials which will 

 not vitiate the water. If a water supply is taken from lakes 

 or rivers which are unavoidably contaminated, it should be 

 sterilized chemically or otherwise, and thoroughly filtered. 

 No dependence should be placed on the ordinary small faucet 

 ' 'filters'* sold for private use. 



Public Food Supplies: Markets. The fitness of foods 

 cannot be determined unless they are traced to their sources, 

 and the method of gathering, packing, shipping, selling, and 



