Skitember 18. 1003.] 



SCIENCE. 



359 



though so inconvenient to the individual; 

 the necessity for public hospitals for con- 

 tagious diseases and for municipal or state 

 sanatoria for tuberculosis; the funda- 

 n]ental problems of international hygiene; 

 public food inspection, such as that eon- 

 ducted by the federal government for tri- 

 chinosis in pork to be exported to foreign 

 countries; and other problems calling for 

 intelligent cooperation of the citizen in 

 national and international hygiene. 



Trained along these lines, the youth of 

 America, whether or not afterwards going 

 to college or technical school, would enter 

 upon their maturer life with some realiz- 

 ing sense of the general structure and 

 operation of the body as a physjeal mech- 

 anism, and the necessity of obedience to 

 physical laws. They would become familiar 

 with the sources of diseases and with some 

 of the more obvious ways of avoiding them. 

 They would have some intimation of their 

 duty, not only to themselves and to any 

 families which they might afterwards have, 

 but also concerning wholesome houses, 

 pure supplies, the safe disposal of wastes, 

 and some of the problems of the munici- 

 pality, and even of the nation, of which 

 they are units. 



We have, of course, to meet the impor- 

 tant objection which will be urged against 

 our point of view, that, desirable as all 

 these things may be, the time available 

 is too short for proper dealing with 

 them. This, however, we deny. Time 

 enough to do all these things and to do 

 them well, either is now or lately has been 

 found in the public schools in the various 

 courses for in.struetion in physiologj' and 

 hygiene. It will be necessary, it is true, 

 to revise and bring up to date our subject 

 matter and our methods of instruction. 

 We mu.st teach less about bone and sinew, 

 and more about muscle and nerve. We 

 must teach less about anatomy and his- 

 tology-, and more about the germ theory 



of disease, about polluted water and pol- 

 luted milk. We must simplify every state- 

 ment and eliminate the unimportant. We 

 must not seek to make of physiology a 

 training in the precision of measurements, 

 or in scientific method, or in anatomy, or 

 in physiological chemistry. Some experi- 

 ments must be made by the students, and 

 demonstrations by the teacher must 

 abound ; but we must keep steadily in view 

 the practical object for which chiefly school 

 time is, and long has been, dedicated to 

 physiology and hygiene, namely, the ra- 

 tional conduct of physical life. 



Above all, we must insist upon relief 

 from the incubus of that 'scientific tem- 

 perance' instruction, so called, which has 

 too long rested upon the teaching of phys- 

 iologj' and hygiene, winding its tentacles 

 about it and, octopus-like, sapping its 

 strength and crushing out its iisefulness. 

 On this subject let us have no misunder- 

 standing. The evil effects of the use of 

 alcoholic drinks must be fully and clearly 

 inculcated. The youth of America must 

 be thoroughl.v informed of the insidious 

 dangers which lurk about strong drink. 

 But, on the other hand, we must never for- 

 get that the public schools are no place 

 for anv propaganda and that the freedom 

 (if teaching must not be surrendered even 

 to reformers. 



Whether we are pleased with the fact 

 or not, modern life has become more stren- 

 uous. In order to achieve success, the in- 

 dividual mu.st do more in a given time ; 

 hence the urgent importance of a personal 

 hygiene which shall really guide him in 

 the proper care of the body. Meantime 

 the eare of the public health has become 

 one of the most important functions of 

 government, and it will be increasingly im- 

 portant in the future. Its success in Amer- 

 ica must largely depend upon an enlight- 

 ened citizenship to which it can look for 

 support. We now teach history and eco- 



