Apeil 22, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



613 



The relations of some of the branches of 

 federal activity to the public health are very 

 direct and obvious. Some of the investiga- 

 tions of the Hygienic Laboratory of the Pub- 

 lic Health and Marine Hospital Service, for 

 example, resulting in the tracing of typhoid 

 fever to contaminated milk, are evidently made 

 for the immediate protection of the public. 

 The vcork of the Meat Inspection Division in 

 preventing the sale of the meat of diseased 

 animals is just as immediate in its purpose. 

 It is evident that a plentiful supply of whole- 

 some food is as essential to the health of a 

 people as any other measure for the preven- 

 tion or eradication of disease. Well-nour- 

 ished bodies may resist disease where impov- 

 erished ones succumb. 



But the bearings of other branches of fed- 

 eral activity upon the public health may not 

 be so obvious to the superficial or casual ob- 

 server. To such an observer the study of the 

 proper construction and ventilation of a barn 

 may not be as close to the public health as 

 the study of the properties of an antitoxic 

 serum. But in these days of preventive med- 

 icine we are willing not alone to be cured of 

 disease, but even to prevent it in almost any 

 way whatsoever — for example, by using only 

 clean milk, from clean, healthy cows, and 

 which obviously can only be kept clean and 

 healthy in barns of sanitary construction 

 and ventilation. The enemy (the pathogenic 

 microorganism in this case) will enter through 

 any gate. All of them must be closed. 



The figures quoted above have been taken 

 from Document No. 1,031, House of Eepre- 

 sentatives (Treasury Department Document 

 No. 2,516), Estimates of Appropriations for 

 the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910; also. 

 Treasury Department Document No. 2,533, 

 Statements of Balances, Appropriations and 

 Disbursements of the Government for the 

 fiscal year ended June 30, 1908. Both of these 

 publications are easily obtainable by those 

 interested, at the Library of the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



W. N. Berg 



Washington, D. C. 



A DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 

 Senator Owen has introduced in the senate 

 a bill establishing a Department of Public 

 Health, which has been read twice and re- 

 ferred to the Committee on Public Health 

 and National Quarantine. The principle of 

 this bill has been approved by the committee 

 of one hundred of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, and mem- 

 bers of the Association are urged to make 

 efforts to secure the passage of the bill, more 

 especially by writing letters to members of 

 congress endorsing the principle of the bUl 

 and in favor of a wide extension of the present 

 health work of the national government. 



President Taft, in his public addresses, as 

 in his first annual message to congress, both 

 the great political parties in their platforms, 

 the National Grange, the American Federa- 

 tion of Labor, the American Medical Asso- 

 ciation, the Committee of One Hundred, and 

 others, have put themselves on record as in 

 favor of a broad reform of the existing situa- 

 tion. It is important to impress upon con- 

 gress that there is a thoughtful and wide- 

 spread demand in this country for compre- 

 hensive reform at this time. 



THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 

 The summer meeting of the American 

 Chemical Society, to be held in San Francisco, 

 July 12-15, 1910, promises to be one of the 

 pleasantest outings ever enjoyed by the mem- 

 bers of the society. 



A special train made up of the Santa Fe's 

 finest equipment will leave Chicago on the 

 evening of July 4, arriving at Colorado 

 Springs on the morning of July 6. About six 

 hours will be allowed for a trip to Manitou, 

 the Garden of the Gods or to the top of Pikes 

 Peak. Leaving about one o'clock the train 

 wiU reach Adamana on July 7 and a half day 

 will be spent in a visit to the Petrified Forests, 

 two of which and possibly three may be exam- 

 ined. Leaving Adamana that night the party 

 will arrive at the Grand Canyon of the Colo- 

 rado on the morning of July 8 where the day 

 will be spent. Leaving the Grand Canyon 

 that evening the train will arrive at Eedlands 



