BY GEO. B. MORSE 111 



however, that Pathology, the science of disease, must be given a place in its 

 classification. Then it came to be recognized that in the study of disease 

 not only must we include Therapeutics or the science and art of treatment of 

 disease but a most prominent place had to be allotted to Hygiene, the study 

 of the laws of health and its preservation. Any one who has attempted 

 to specialize in Hygiene has found himself face to face with every division 

 of Biology, even classification. In human medicine we have long noted the 

 "diseases of civilization" and the peculiar immunity of uncivilized peoples 

 from the same. Again, there has been recognition of the awful suscepti- 

 bility of the Negro and Indian races to diseases to which the Anglo-Saxon 

 by centuries of exposure, has acquired a certain amount of immunity. The 

 same is true in poultry husbandry. Who would not prefer to purchase his 

 stock from a flock of "rangers" rather than invest in the third or fourth 

 generation of "back-yard" or "town-lot" poultry. Most observant poul- 

 trymen can tell you the differences that exist among their Asiatic, Mediter- 

 ranean and American breeds as to susceptibility to disease in chickhood and 

 adult life. One of the strong points claimed for certain breeds that are just 

 now being largely exploited is the dominating influence of their disease- 

 resisting powers. 



I referred to the points of contact between the physical sciences and 

 Biology. A man may be, as the result of close observation, an apparently 

 successful feeder, but he cannot be an intelligent feeder today unless he 

 possesses some knowledge of the chemistry of digestion and the chemistry 

 of foods. Permit me to quote from a very recent and most interesting 

 article :' "The animal body is the most complicated and wonderful piece of 

 machinery in the world. It is the only engine which generates its own 

 power, disposes of its waste products and automatically renews its parts. 

 Within the compass of the human frame is an elaborate hydraulic system 

 having not only a double acting force pump but also a suction pump for the 

 purpose of producing a negative pressure in the veins and to assist the 

 return circulation. The nervous system may be likened to the telephone 

 system of a great city for it has all the local call stations and also a central 

 station, which we call the brain, which is so complicated that, elaborate as 

 are the switchboards in our great exchanges, they are simplicity itself 

 compared with the brain. The digestive system forms the furnace in 

 which the fuel is received for the generation of power, while the skin, kid- 

 neys and lungs make up a complicated apparatus for getting rid of the 

 waste products of combustion." 



(Bristow, Algernon T., M.D.; The Unity of the Medical Sciences. Journal of the 

 American Medical Association, vol. Hi. no. II, p. 844, opening paragraph, March 13, 

 1909, Chicago. 



