67 



and j'oung men who have "robust ii(?aitii" aiul are abie to cdiitiiiile their 

 education uuluterrnptedly are "'tiie survival of the Attest."' They can 

 follow their profession in the heart of rt city under tlie most unsanitary 

 environment — and since tliey do not react they fail to understand the com- 

 mon ill health of their patients; they are apt to refer to some indi- 

 viduals as '"imaginaiy ill."' That may explain why the sick often go else- 

 where and why faith and mind cures tiourish. Now in regard to the lat- 

 ter it may he said that many ijidividuals wlien they adopt some mind or 

 faith cure change their habits, perhaps leading the simple life and re- 

 maining away from crowds. With this change comes about improvement, 

 in health. 



The common doctor treats the common ill health and the common dis- 

 eases of the common people, a fact pointed out by the Father of Medicine 

 2,.'J00 years ago. It is rather anomalous that scientific physicians today 

 shou.ld so largely be interested in well-defined diseases to the neglect of 

 common e^-eryday ill health. Every now and then we see a newspaper 

 iteni under such a heading as "Conquering Disease." Newspaper reporters 

 at times become enthusiastic and predict the conquering of all disease — 

 but the less a man knows about the subject the more enthusiastically he 

 may write. Be that as it may, we know that under present-day sanita- 

 tion well-dcrtned infective diseases are becoming less and less common 

 e^-ery year. We need only think of what the introduction of pure water 

 means to a city in such diseases as Asiatic cholera and typhoid fever. 

 r5ut a.lthcugh s])ecihc, epidemic, diseases are decreasing, common ill health 

 is incn asiiig, in spite of more and better doctors and better medicines — 

 luedicines lliat palliate but do not cure. 



Nov inifortunately there is no institution devoted to the study of coni- 

 num ill health, especiallj' ill health dependent upon bad air conditions. 

 The very common things of life are neglected — a fact which critics of the 

 medical ])rofession pointed out long ago. Until the people themselves take 

 hold of the subject we need not expect much change. 



Today we hear much regarding the role of well-e<]uipped hospitals in 

 city life. Many have an idea that the number of hospitals and their 

 equipment are an index of a city's progress. The same individuals likely 

 estimate a city's progress by the size of the smoke cloud overhanging it. 

 As a matter of fact the opposite is true. A sanitary and well managed 

 city ]\as comi)arati\cly littl(! use fur iiospitals, barring of course accident 



