258 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 251 



way. or we declare our inability of having an opinion of our own. 

 How shall we form opinions of our own otherwise than by examin- 

 ing the facts in the case.' and how can we learn these facts which 

 are unchangeable, those facts over which man, with all his pride, 

 can have no control ? " 



I have no hesitation in thus quoting Professor Agassiz, although 

 he seems to be against me, jud^mg from his reference to logic 

 alone, because his remarks seem so applicable to what I am urging, 

 in that they so strongly inculcate the necessity for logical training 

 (and which the study of natural science gives) in what is certainly 

 a convincing manner. Still, I am fully persuaded that he would 

 not have spoken in this way about logic, if it had been understood 

 that it was to be taught in the way he urged with natural history ; 

 viz., to take the objects or words and propositions in use every day, 

 and apply these principles to them. It then becomes something 

 very much higher than a mere feat of memory, and I fail to see why 

 instruction in logic would be any waste of time, even when natural 

 history was being studied, and where the kind of work to which 

 Professor Agassiz refers is out of the question ; and for the present 

 this seems to be the case in all our grammar-schools. The great 

 desideratum is the proper presentation and teaching of logic by 

 those who really understand it themselves. 



In conclusion I would say that it is very difficult for me to un- 

 derstand why, if logic is ever worthy of study, it is not more neces- 

 sary in the beginning of an education than at its close. I will 

 therefore hope that all who are engaged in the profession of teach- 

 ing will give this subject their serious consideration, and perhaps 

 trial. Let us not forget that logic teaches us to reason correctly ; 

 that good reasoning will give us more knowledge, and this will 

 give us power ; which, if combined with good character, cannot 

 help making its possessor more valuable to himself and to his 



fellows. S. J. BUMSTEAD. 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION. 



The American Public Health Association held its fifteenth annual 

 meeting at Memphis, Tenn., on Nov. 8, 9, 10, and 11. The attend- 

 ance was good, among those present being many of the promi- 

 nent sanitarians of the United States and Canada. At the first 

 session ninety-four new members were elected. The annual ad- 

 dress was delivered by the president. Dr. George M. Sternberg, 

 U.S.A. The following is an abstract of the address : — 



" It was due to the yellow-fever epidemic of 1878, in which Mem- 

 phis was the chief sufferer, that steps were taken at our meeting of 

 that year, in the city of Richmond, to urge upon Congress the im- 

 portance of a national board of health. Recognizing the fact that 

 epidemics do not respect State boundary-lines, and that an efficient 

 sanitary service in times of emergency requires a liberal expendi- 

 ture of money, and unity of action on the part of sanitary officials, 

 we urged the formation of a central health board, and for a time it 

 seemed as if our well-meant plans would be crowned with success. 

 Indeed, they were crowned with partial success, for all must recog- 

 nize that in the early days of its existence the National Board of 

 Health accompHshed much good. It is unnecessary for me to 

 refer to the various circumstances which conspired to paralyze the 

 effective energy of this board. Unhappily it is a thing of the past, 

 and the hopes which we had founded upon this our bantling are 

 but a memory of the past. But we should not be discouraged that 

 our first effort has failed. A careful consideration of the circum- 

 stances which led to this failure may enable us to mature a better 

 plan. Such a plan, indorsed by the judgment of the experienced 

 sanitarians here assembled, and properly presented to our national 

 legislators, could not fail to receive respectful attention. 



" One thing appears to me to be thoroughly demonstrated by the 

 experience of the past ; namely, that a central health board, to be 

 efficient, must be attached to one of the departments of the govern- 

 ment now in existence, so that it may be under the protection of a 

 cabinet officer. It would be useless to ask at the present time that 

 the sanitary interests of the country may be represented by an ad- 

 ditional cabinet officer, a minister of public health, although there 

 can be no doubt that the interests involved are sufficiently impor- 

 tant to justify such an innovation. But we may at least demand 

 that the sanitary interests of the people of the United States shall 

 receive the same consideration from the national a;o\'ernment that is 



accorded to the educational interests, the agricultural interests, etc. 

 We may at least ask for a bureau of public health, with a commis- 

 sioner at its head, and with the necessary secretaries and clerical 

 force to make it efficient ; and attached to such a bureau should be 

 a well-equipped laboratory, in which expert bacteriologists, chem- 

 ists, and sanitary engineers should be employed in the experimental 

 investigation of unsettled sanitary problems, such as the natural 

 history of disease-germs, the best methods of destroying them, pro- 

 tective inoculations against infectious diseases, problems in sanitary 

 engineering (such as the disposal of sewage, domestic sanitation, 

 etc.), food-adulterations, and a variety of other questions of equal 

 importance, which will readily occur to you. I do not approve of 

 the plan of having a central board of health, composed of members 

 located in various parts of the country. Such an organization is 

 cumbersome, and it cannot be expected that a board which is only 

 assembled at long intervals, and of which the members are occu- 

 pied by various pursuits, which claim their time and best thought, 

 will render the most efficient service. On the other hand, by diver- 

 sity of opinions they may greatly embarrass their executive officer, 

 who must necessarily be located in Washington. Nor, in my opin- 

 ion, would a board composed of officials at the head of various de- 

 partments in Washington, such as the surgeon-general of the army, 

 the navy, and the marine-hospital service, as has been suggested, 

 be much better. These officials are fully occupied with the duties 

 pertaining to their office, or at least have not sufficient leisure to 

 undertake the executive work of a central health bureau. I would 

 therefore expect better results from the untrammelled action of a 

 single commissioner, who would be responsible directly to the cab- 

 inet officer to whose department his bureau was attached, and who 

 would necessarily be controlled by the law defining the nature of 

 his duties. In this case it is evident that the good accomplished 

 would depend largely upon the fitness of the man selected for the 

 special duties intrusted to him, and that a political appointment in 

 the first instance, or the removal of a suitable man for political 

 reasons, would entirely defeat our object. 



" We may, however, ignore this possibility, and trust to the good 

 judgment of the chief executive and the growing public sentiment 

 in favor of retaining efficient bureau officers, without regard to 

 party changes. 



" In connection with a bureau of public health, it would certainly 

 be desirable to have an advisory board of health, to which the 

 commissioner could refer questions for consideration, or which 

 could advise him of new measures, or desirable changes in his regu- 

 lations, which, after full discussion, commended themselves to the 

 judgment of the board. Such a board should have no executive 

 power, and the members should receive no pay beyond their actual 

 expenses in attending the appointed meetings. I would suggest 

 that such a board should consist of the surgeons-general of the 

 army, the navy, and the marine-hospital service, and of the presi- 

 dents of State boards of health. One annual meeting in Washing- 

 ton would probably answer the purpose for which a board would 

 be constituted, except in case of an actual or threatened epidemic, 

 when it might be convened, at the suggestion of its president or of 

 the commissioner of health. 



" I request your careful consideration of the plan here suggested, 

 and, if it meets your approval, would urge the importance of taking 

 such action at the present meeting as will insure its being properly 

 brought before the Congress of the United States." 



Dr. Sternberg referred to the epidemic of yellow-fever at Mem- 

 phis in 1878, and the sanitary improvements made in the city since 

 that time, and then gave its inhabitants the following advice : — 



" Do not allow yourselves to fall into a state of inaction and false 

 security because for several years our foe has been kept at bay. Al- 

 though it is now evident that yellow-fever is not epidemic in any 

 portion of our land, and we have learned by recent experience that 

 by proper measures it is possible to exclude it for a series of years, 

 even from the city of New Orleans, yet there are so many possibili- 

 ties of its introduction, in spite of the vigilance of those, who have 

 charge of the gateway of the Mississippi valley, that it would be 

 folly to neglect those local measures of sanitation which remove the 

 vulnerability of cities in the presence of the germs of pestilential 

 diseases. Shutting the door is of prime importance, and while the 

 keys are in the hands of our energetic and able colleague, Dr. Holt, 



