618 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 1 



viding for scientific research along lines 

 which have a direct bearing upon the prac- 

 tise of medicine. We now have among 

 others the Kockefeller Institute for Medi- 

 cal Research in New York with its endow- 

 ment of $3,000,000 r the Laboratory for the 

 Investigation of Cancer at Buffalo, sup- 

 ported by the state of New York; the 

 Phipps Institute for the Study of Tubercu- 

 losis at Philadelphia, and the Institute for 

 Investigation of Infectious Diseases, en- 

 dowed by Mr. and Mrs. McCormack, of 

 Chicago. No more commendable or fruit- 

 ful field for the philanthropist can be 

 found in any sphere of educational activ- 

 ity than in providing the financial support 

 needed for such institutions. I can see 

 no reason, however, why we should leave 

 such an important field of inquiry wholly 

 to the generosity of public-spirited men 

 and women. Legislative bodies are becom- 

 ing interested and are willing to provide 

 means for the study and control of pre- 

 ventable diseases. Twenty-eight of the 

 forty-three stafe and territorial legislatures 

 in session two years ago passed laws con- 

 cerning tuberculosis, and ten states have 

 recently made appropriations amounting 

 in the aggregate to $100,000 to be used ex- 

 clusively in the education of the public 

 concerning this disease. Much has been 

 done and is now being accomplished by the 

 scientific bureaus at Washington. The 

 Bureau of Chemistrj', through the pure 

 food and drug act, the Marine Hospital 

 Service, and others are devoting much at- 

 tention to the problem of protecting the 

 health of the public. In April President 

 Taft sent a message to congress recom- 

 mending an appropriation of $50,000 for 

 the purpose of establishing a laboratory 

 for the investigation of cancer. ]\Tost im- 

 portant of all, however, is the bill recently 



° Recently increased by an additional gift of 

 $3,820,000. 



introduced in congress by Senator Owen 

 providing for the organization of aU of 

 these activities of the government into a 

 department of public health. 



The general government might well af- 

 ford to spend a relatively much larger por- 

 tion of its income upon those scientific in- 

 vestigations that have for their purpose 

 not only the elimination of unhealthful 

 conditions and the protection of our na- 

 tion from the dangers of impure food sup- 

 plies, but also the development of preven- 

 tive medicine. We are in these times 

 quite as much interested in the prevention 

 as in the cure of disease, and it is a sad 

 commentary upon us as a nation that 72 

 per cent, of our national income is being 

 spent in preparations for war and because 

 of past wars, leaving only 28 per cent, 

 available to meet all other expenses of the 

 government. The average annual expendi- 

 ture upon the army and navy for the past 

 eight years, that is, since the close of the 

 Spanish war, is sufficient to establish a 

 three million dollar Rockefeller Institute 

 in every state and territory of the union 

 and stiU leave more than the amount of 

 the present magnificent endowment of 

 Pasteur Institute of Paris. Many of the 

 state governments are likewise spending an 

 abnormally large proportion of their rev- 

 enues upon the non-productive classes. 

 About 40 per cent, of the revenues of Illi- 

 nois is being spent in caring for those who 

 are either morally, mentally or physically 

 incapable of the full responsibilities of 

 citizenship in a free and democratic com- 

 monwealth. Illinois is no exception in this 

 respect. It is a noble and a necessary work 

 to provide for these non-productive classes 

 in the state and in the community, but as I 

 have said, we are to-day quite as much in- 

 terested in the prevention as in the cure of 

 disease, and doubtless no small portion of 

 our non-productive classes are such be- 



