1903. ] RAVENEL—WARFARE AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS. PAIS: 
table tendency of the human mind to grow accustomed to danger. 
We have grown accustomed to the death-rate from tuberculosis, and 
do not realize what it means. A panic would be caused in any one 
of our large cities by 100 deaths from cholera, yellow fever or 
plague, yet in New York 10,000 deaths and in Philadelphia 2800 
deaths are caused each year by tuberculosis without exciting even 
passing comment from the average person. The only real differ- 
ence is that tuberculosis is with us always, demanding its lion’s 
share of victims with each recurring year, while the other diseases 
are rare visitors. 
The total number of deaths in the United States-each year from 
tuberculosis is estimated at 150,000, which means a money loss of 
$330,000,000 to the country. This should be sufficient reason for 
preventive measures on our part, even if we leave out of consider- 
ation the distress of the victims and their families. The slow and 
insidious onset of tuberculosis no doubt tends to lessen the fear we 
have of it, but in this very fact lies much danger, since it is more 
difficult to persuade persons of the relation of cause and effect than 
in a malady where exposure is promptly followed by attack. The 
magnitude of the task deters some from undertaking it. Very 
recently a legislator who was being urged to assist in procuring 
State aid brought up such an objection. The task is unquestion- 
ably a great one, but it can be stated with assurance that the total 
eradication of tuberculosis is feasible. 
Another class of obstructionists are those persons who regard all 
discoveries as ‘‘ new-fangled notions,’’ and quote the mode of life 
of their grandfathers, who did not find measures for the prevention 
of tuberculosis necessary. It is impossible to argue with such per- 
sons, asarule. It may be pointed out, however, that tuberculosis 
is essentially a disease spread by overcrowding, and, like all com- 
municable diseases, the more dense the population the greater nec- 
essity for preventive measures. Conditions change materially with 
increase of population, and the new conditions must be met by new 
measures which may have been unnecessary before. 
PREVENTION OF TUBERCULOSIS. 
All efforts at the eradication of tuberculosis to be successful must 
be based on the fundamental fact of its communicability, and in 
the main it is to be treated as the other contagious diseases, though 
