NOVEMBER 26, 1897. ] 
physicians throughout Germany, whose 
duty it was to adopt preventive measures. 
A city ordinance of Nurnberg in 1562 
gives detailed directions as to the quality 
of bread, beer and wine offered for sale, the 
cleaning of streets and houses, the disposi- 
tion of infected clothing and bedding, the 
fumigation with sulphur and straw of pest- 
houses, ete. 
In 1685 Prussia established a Central 
Medical Bureau, and appointments of health 
officers and privy medical counsellors were 
made, whose duties consisted in advising 
the men entrusted with the care of the 
government on matters relating to public 
health, and some of these titles are still in 
vogue in HKurope. About the same time 
_ Sanitary improvements in the way of widen- 
ing streets for the purpose of supplying 
more air and light to the habitations, and 
better methods for the collection and re- 
moval of the wastes of human life were in- 
troduced, but, broadly speaking, at the 
close of the 17th century the habits of the 
people in Europe were generally filthy and 
in striking contrast to those observed among 
the most untutored savages of the present 
day. 
In Madrid, we are told, that not even a 
privy existed in 1760. It was customary 
to throw the ordure out of the windows at 
night, and it was removed by scavengers 
the next day. An ordinance having been 
issued by the king that every householder 
should build a privy, the people violently 
opposed it as an arbitrary proceeding, and 
the physicians remonstrated against it, 
alleging that the filth absorbed the un- 
wholesome particles of the air which other- 
wise would be taken into the human body. 
His majesty, however, with commendable 
zeal, persisted, but many of his citizens, in 
order to keep their food wholesome, erected 
privies close to their kitchen fireplaces. 
With such unsanitary conditions we need 
be surprised that the mortality in 
SCIENCE. 
793 
towns was greater than their birth-rate and 
that the city population had to be recruited 
continually from the country, conditions 
which existed until the beginning of the 
present century. Professor Finklenburg, of 
Bonn, estimates that the average human 
life in the 16th century was only 18 to 20 
years, while to-day it is over 40 years. 
The mortality of London between 1660 
and 1679 was 50 per 1,000 of inhabitants; 
from 1679 to 1728, including the period of 
pests, it was 80 per 1,000; between 1728 
and 1780 it was still 40 per 1,000, while at 
the present time it is between 20 and 21 
per 1,000, and the mean annual death-rate in 
England is less than 19 per 1,000. Without 
underestimating the brilliant achievements 
of Jenner’s discovery of vaccination in 1796, 
which as a preventive measure has saved 
millions of lives, no two factors have con- 
tributed so much to the general result 
than the improvement of the air we breathe 
and the water we drink. Indeed, we 
have ample evidence that, with the in- 
troduction of sewers and public water sup- 
plies, the general mortality in numerous 
cities, during the past forty years, has been 
reduced fully one-half, the good effects be- 
ing especially shown by a marked decrease 
in the number of cases of typhoid fever, 
diarrhceal diseases and consumption. The 
vital statistics of Great Britain furnish the 
proof. The mortality of Salisbury within 
the last 30 years has been reduced from 40 
to 16 per 1,000; at Dover from 28 to 14 per 
1,000 ; at Rugby from 24 to 10 per 1,000 ; at 
Croydon from 28 to 15 per 1,000 and at 
Matlock from 18 to 9 per 1,000. 
Enteric Diar- Con- 
Fever. rhcea. sumpt’n. 
Bristol, before sanitary works 10.0 10.5 31.0 
us after re ab 6.5 9.1 25.5 
Leicester, before fs rf 14.7 16.0 43.3 
w after oS us 7.7 19.3 29:3 
Cardiff, before sf ie 17.5 17.2 34,7 
0G after a w 10.5 4,5 28.6 
Mucclesfield, before A sf 14.2 11.0 51.5 
4 after fe fe 8.5 9.0 85.3, 
Warwick, before “ ‘ 19.0 5.7 40.0 
6 after ee Ee 9.0 8.0 82.3 
