420 BACTERIOLOGY. 



Virchow long ago attributed the immunity to 

 cholera shown by the city of Wiirzburg to the 

 fact that a good water supply had put an end 

 to the relations with the filth-saturated earth. 

 Dwellings supplied with abundant natural 

 light and with pure air must gradually aug- 

 ment this advantage. 



The foundation for these reforms must still 

 frequently be laid by an improvement of 

 the building laws and by energetic measures 

 against dishonest contractors. Care for the 

 welfare of the people has already made pro- 

 gress in Germany. Cities that neglect their 

 duty must, as in England, be legally com- 

 pelled to it. Unfortunately these very hy- 

 gienic questions generally receive shamefully 

 inadequate consideration in representative as- 

 semblies. Often they are employed for catch- 

 ing votes before the election and afterwards 

 with affecting unanimity are forgotten by all 

 parties. Matters of this kind, in which all 

 classes are concerned in an equal degree, are 

 not well adapted for placing one's favorite party 

 in a superior position, hence the subject is 

 dropped altogether. Unfortunately many phy- 

 sicians have shown themselves even more back- 

 ward in such matters than the administrative 

 officers. And yet there is hardly anything 

 more full of import for the people at large than 



