December 31, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



923 



are results of biological research applied 

 to sanitation, one the prevention of epi- 

 demics of fever and cholera in the camps 

 and trenches in Western Europe, and the 

 other the quick arrest of a terrible epi- 

 demic of typhus fever in Serbia. 



Let us next take account of the pros- 

 pects of applied biology in the coming 

 years. May we anticipate for it an in- 

 creasing or a decreasing influence? 



The progress of medical and surgical re- 

 search during the past twenty years is of 

 great promise for the future. It goes on 

 actively in every good medical school, in 

 many hospitals and dispensaries, and in 

 the new institutes exclusively devoted to 

 research. It is strongly supported by the 

 new tendency to maintain in medical 

 schools professorships of comparative 

 anatomy, physiology and pathology. The 

 importance of comparative pathology is 

 just coming to be recognized. Inasmuch 

 as animal experimentation, with the help 

 of anesthesia and aseptieism, is nowadays 

 the principal means of extending the 

 knowledge of the causes of disease and of 

 the means of remedy and prevention, the 

 importance of comparative studies on 

 many species of animals, including man, 

 has become obvious to all persons who 

 think about the improvement of the hu- 

 man race and of its useful animal asso- 

 ciates. 



In regard to the treatment of contagious 

 diseases, the story of the recent past can 

 not but suggest hopes of even more rapid 

 progress in the future towards the effec- 

 tive control of some of the worst diseases 

 that afflict humanity. Thus, in the ten 

 years from 1903 to 1913 syphilis was trans- 

 mitted artificially to certain lower animals ; 

 the characteristic bacillus of that disease 

 was discovered; the Wasserman test was 

 invented, a test which enables an expert in 



its use to detect those cases which have no 

 external symptoms; the value of salvar- 

 san, as a safe destroyer of the bacillus 

 within the human body, was demonstrated ; 

 and the bacillus was grown in pure cul- 

 ture outside of the body, whence resulted 

 luetin, an important aid in the diagnosis of 

 obscure cases ; and finally the bacillus was 

 detected in the brain of patients suffering 

 from general paresis, and in the spinal 

 cord of patients with locomotor ataxia. 

 This series of discoveries and inventions 

 has given to man a much improved control 

 over this terrible scourge; but this control 

 is not yet applied on an adequate scale. 

 It remains for the future to cause this de- 

 structive disease to be early recognized, 

 reported, and effectively dealt with. It is 

 for state and municipal boards of health 

 to invent and put into practise the means 

 of contending against the spread of this 

 horrible disease. This is a public health 

 problem of the gravest sort. That public 

 health authorities may succeed in the fu- 

 ture against the horribly destructive effects 

 of syphilis on every civilized race in the 

 world is one of the hopes of the future, a 

 hope inspired by the recent progress of 

 biological science. 



The progress of bio-chemistry and bac- 

 teriology has already enabled civilized 

 governments to do much for the protec- 

 tion of their people from injury by foods 

 not fit for consumption and by adulter- 

 ated drugs. This is a branch of the public 

 health service which is capable of large 

 extension hereafter. The efficiency of the 

 methods now used will be greatly in- 

 creased; and they will be used in new 

 fields. It is more than forty years since 

 the Massachusetts Board of Health gave 

 effective attention to the transportation 

 and slaughtering of animals intended for 

 food, an admirable piece of pioneering 

 which brought about great improvements, 



