CHAPTER XXIV 

 COMMUNITY SANITATION 



Sanitation or Sanitary Science treats of the mainte- 

 nance of health and the prevention of disease. It deals 

 mainly with (1) the factors which produce disease, and 

 (2) the habits and means which enable mankind to resist 

 disease. 



Nearly every one recognizes the laws of personal hy- 

 giene, but the broader application of these laws to com- 

 munity hygiene has not yet received the attention it 

 deserves. The subject of public health is quite modern. 

 In fact it is only within the last fifty years that we have 

 known anything about the power of germs as disease 

 producers. In 1892 a scientific cure for diphtheria was 

 discovered. In 1901 the facts concerning the develop- 

 ment and control of yellow fever were discovered. Scien- 

 tists have learned the causes of high death rates and the 

 way to avoid them. 



The Growth of Cities. - - This is a day of great cities. 

 So rapid has been the growth of the cities in recent years 

 that modern engineering skill has been taxed to keep pace 

 with the problems that arise. But the problems are 

 not merely the problems of sanitary engineers. They 

 are the problems of all the people of the community 

 and state and must be recognized as such if we are to 

 have the best results. 



We have had large cities for many centuries, and the 

 occasional pestilences and scourges which partially depop- 



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