October 1, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



449 



attributed to the prevention of air pollution 

 and dampness. It is noteworthy that while 

 the reduction in the city of Washington coin- 

 cident with the introduction of sewers amounts 

 to 37.3 per cent., the reduction in Baltimore, 

 an unsewered city, is only 24.7 per cent. 



Erismann has calculated that a cesspool 

 with 18 cbm. contents is capable of polluting 

 the atmosphere in the course of twenty-four 

 hours with 18.79 cbm. of impure gases and it 

 requires no great stretch of the imagination 

 to calculate the amount of air pollution which 

 resulted from the cesspools and other make- 

 shifts prior to the introduction of the sewerage 

 system. The relation of dampness to con- 

 sumption may be explained as follows : Sewers 

 help to drain the soil. Dampness of soil, 

 unless special precautions have been taken, ex- 

 tends by capillary attraction to the walls and 

 renders the entire house damp. Damp air 

 abstracts an undue amount of animal heat, 

 lowers the power of resistance of the inmates 

 and predisposes to catarrhal affections and 

 these in turn render the mucous membranes 

 more vulnerable to the invasion of the tubercle 

 bacilli. There is also reason for believing that 

 the bacilli retain their vitality for a greater 

 length of time in such an atmosphere on 

 account of its humidity and excess of organic 

 matter. At all events it has long been known 

 that tuberculosis is far more prevalent in 

 damp, dark and unsanitary houses. It is diffi- 

 cult to explain how pure water is connected 

 with the deaths other than those from water- 

 borne diseases, yet when we consider that 

 water enters into the composition of the 

 human body to the extent of 60 per cent., we 

 are in a position to appreciate the sanitary 

 acumen of Aristotle when he wrote in his 

 " Politica " : " The greatest influence on health 

 is exerted by those things which we most 

 freely and frequently require for our existence, 

 and this is especially true of water and air." 

 Chapters VI. and VII. deal with the duties 

 of municipal, state and federal health authori- 

 ties in the prevention of the disease. Dr. 

 Knopf's presentation of what has been accom- 

 plished and his many valuable suggestions as 

 to what more needs to be done are of interest 



and importance. Chai^ter VIII. enters very 

 fully into the subject of factory and office 

 hygiene — tuberculous employees and servants, 

 general railway sanitation, the farmer's duty 

 in the prevention of tuberculosis in man or 

 beast — and is replete with valuable facts and 

 recommendations. Chapter IX. is one of the 

 most important of the series, dealing as it does 

 with the duties of school teachers, educators 

 and the public press in the combat against 

 tuberculosis. He makes a strong and just 

 plea for school sanitation with special refer- 

 ence to ventilation, lighting and heating, 

 gymnasia, playgrounds and swimming pools 

 and offers many valuable suggestions to those 

 entrusted with the physical development of 

 the nation's most valuable assets. Dr. linopf 

 offers an alphabet suited for the understand- 

 ing of younger pupils, in which he points out 

 " the numerous sources of tuberculous infec- 

 tion to which the child may be exposed at 

 school and what the child itself can do to 

 overcome the possible sources of infection." 

 This alphabet should be adopted, as it will 

 prove of immense benefit to the present and 

 future generations, without exciting an undue 

 fear of the disease. The author's description 

 of scrofulous children and those predisposed 

 to the disease, and his plea for open-air schools 

 for such children, should strongly appeal to all 

 educators. 



Chapter X. deals with church hygiene, hos- 

 pitals, cremation, the Emmanuel church move- 

 ment, value of cooperation in anti-tuberculosis 

 work, need of sanatoria for tuberculous chil- 

 dren, sanatoria in the United States and illus- 

 trations of different types, social and medical 

 mission of the sanatorium, philanthropic con- 

 sumptives, day and night camps, class meth- 

 ods, etc. Chapter XI. deals very fully with 

 the duties of the people in the combat of 

 tuberculosis, the early signs of the disease 

 recognizable by the laymen, educational meth- 

 ods by free lectures and literature, overcoming 

 an inherited tuberculous predisposition, hy- 

 giene of pregnancy, nursery hygiene, dress and 

 hygiene for children, tight lacing, child labor, 

 alcoholism as a predisposing factor in the dis- 

 ease and its prevention. The author, while a 



