358 



SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 455. 



muscular work, mental activity, feeding, 

 the protection against colds and other in- 

 flammations, the care of the body by bath- 

 ing and clothing and the like. These should 

 not be touched upon in short paragraphs 

 which, like after-thoughts, conclude the 

 chapters on anatomy or physiology, but 

 should be separately and fully treated for 

 their own sake, and from the standpoint 

 of the organism as a whole rather than from 

 that of special organs. These are subjects 

 about which every one needs real and true 

 information, and sooner or later seeks it. 

 Shall such knowledge be obtained from the 

 public schools, or sought unwisely and in 

 vain in the brazen advertisements of maga- 

 zine originators of new systems of phys- 

 ical training, or in the rash and not often 

 disinterested advice of advocates of new 

 breakfast foods? 



Modern hygiene begins with the individ- 

 ual, but deals also with the hygiene of the 

 family, of the community, of states and of 

 nations. In a rapid review of the place 

 which these branches of the subject shoiild 

 occupy in our preparation for sound private 

 and public life, it must not be forgotten that 

 the great majority of the pupils in our pub- 

 lic schools have no opportunity or intention 

 to enter colleges or higher schools, and 

 yet are likely to become householders, 

 housekeepers, heads of families or citizens. 

 The principles underlying household or do- 

 mestic hygiene and sanitation therefore 

 claim some consideration at their hands. 

 These should include such questions as the 

 proper site of the house, the valine of fire- 

 places as ventilators, the importance of 

 wall papers free from arsenic, the advan- 

 tages of bare floors, and of simple rugs as 

 compared with carpets difficult to clean, 

 the necessity of a pure and abundant 

 water supply, the desirability of prompt 

 removal of wastes by drainage and by 

 such other devices for rural communities 

 as may be made most sanitary under the 

 circinnstances, the dangers of damp cellars 



with the reasons whj' cellar dwellings are 

 so peculiarly unwholesome, the dangers 

 of illuminating gas (especially the modern 

 so-called 'water gas'), the need of care- 

 ful consideration and frequent inspection 

 of gas fixtures to avoid small but dan- 

 gerous leaks, and other similar matters 

 bearing directly or indirectly iipon the wel- 

 fare and sanitary condition of the home. 

 Here might well be told the truth in regard 

 to the advantages and dangers of cesspools 

 and sewers, and of leaky or otherwise de- 

 fective plumbing. 



Place should also be found, and might 

 easilj^ be made by the sacrifice of some os- 

 teology and histology, for a brief consid- 

 eration of the health of communities, such 

 as thickly settled neighborhoods, growing 

 towns or cities; of the dangers attending 

 impure water supplies and defective sew- 

 erage systems ; and the importance of 

 methods for the sanitary removal and dis- 

 posal of garbage, rubbish and the other 

 wastes of life. Something might weU be 

 said regarding the need of proper munici- 

 pal supervision of all these matters as the 

 essential of a rational municipal sanitation 

 and of the sanitary value of good public 

 service. Here also might be taken up the 

 advantages and the right use of municipal 

 parks, playgrounds and gymnasia, of pub- 

 lic lavatories, water-closets and wash- 

 houses; of smoke abatement and noise 

 suppression; and something said regarding 

 clean streets and the thoughtless scattering 

 of papers, banana skins and the like rub- 

 bish, which necessitates a costly scavenging ; 

 something regarding pure ice and espe- 

 cially pure milk — problems in the solution 

 of which all classes of the commianity must 

 eventually take an active interest and par- 

 ticipation, if reform is to come. 



And, finally, room should be found for 

 a brief explanation of quarantine, its ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages; the isolation 

 of cases of infectious disease and the rea- 

 son why this is so essential to the public, 



