August 27, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



263 



tions of humanity. While pertinent to 

 every aspect of urban life, they are equally 

 valuable to him who finds his work in the 

 country. 



Pasteur's mind touched economic prob- 

 lems. As soon as he conceived a problem 

 he projected it to its applications. Fer- 

 mentation was interesting to him not only 

 as a scientific problem, but because heavy 

 losses were incurred every year from im- 

 proper management. He was assigned by 

 Dumas to the study of the silkworm dis- 

 ease, conquered it, eliminated it, and 

 made it possible for the silk industry to 

 succeed. He attacked anthrax because 

 it was making ravages among the live 

 stock of France. By his methods of 

 vaccination he was able to control it. 

 He became interested in rabies and in this 

 his unique work developed a treatment 

 which has proved successful. This taken 

 in connection with the introduction of 

 Lister's aseptic and antiseptic surgery un- 

 locked the door to an exceedingly wide 

 field of application. To comprehend it 

 (even by one fairly familiar with it) pre- 

 supposes human power in excess of that 

 which really exists, for it implies a knowl- 

 edge of nearly every walk in life. It 

 reaches every point touched by the human 

 hand. In the early eighties many diseases 

 were traced to their origin, the organisms 

 isolated and studied in the light of prophy- 

 laxis. Then infectious diseases were a 

 nightmare; to-day we feel they are under 

 control and we rest in the contentment of 

 a victory. Through the labors of the work- 

 ers beginning with Pasteur followed by 

 Lister, Koch and scores of other notable 

 investigators, the profession of medicine 

 has grown out of its ignorant mysticism 

 into a science ; veterinary medicine has 

 found its inspiration, and public health has 

 become a tangible reality. 



Of the total number of infectious dis- 



eases, those attacking animals form no small 

 part. The economic importance in this re- 

 spect affects not only the producer, but the 

 consumer as well. Here as in hiunan medi- 

 cine progress is making. With the later 

 development of serum-therapy as in the 

 case of hog cholera, of vaccines as in the 

 case of black leg and other diseases, there 

 promises to be eventually a time when most 

 of the animal infectious diseases can be 

 either cured or prevented. 



We must not forget either that we still 

 have not extended to our rural commu- 

 nities the full meaning of water supply 

 control so satisfactorily operating in cities 

 and towns. There are those who tell us 

 that typhoid fever is a rural disease. This 

 can easily be understood when the condi- 

 tions generally existing are known. Water 

 supply on the farm concerns not only the 

 farm home and the farm animals, but by 

 its issuing from the farm through the chan- 

 nel of milk, the city home as well. Before 

 improvement is assured, the farm home 

 must adopt safe methods of sewage disposal 

 which are open to it. With the develop- 

 ment of these resources; with the accumu- 

 lation of rural wealth; with the formation 

 of tastes with tone, the benefits now en- 

 joyed by urbanites must extend to the 

 country and carry with them the sanitary 

 and health lessons associated with a knowl- 

 edge of organisms. 



It is easily surmised from the foregoing 

 that only some of the most important 

 microbiological features of agriculture 

 have been treated, and these subjects in a 

 very cursory manner. Furthermore, there 

 is evident in all assertions an attempt to 

 depict a general agricultural development 

 in the light of the development of a single 

 branch of science. Lest I may conclude 

 the paper leaving a false impression be- 

 hind, I ask your forbearance while I utter 

 a word of explanation. Agriculture is a 

 vast and composite division made up of 



