56 



ized this important branch of medicine and made it a most important fac- 

 tor in the conservation of human life : the discovery of selective chemical 

 substances for tbe treatment of specific diseases, such as quinine for 

 malaria, salvarsan for syphilis and most recently ipecac for amebic dys- 

 entery and pyorrhea. 



In sanitary science the development has been most remarkable. This 

 includes its practical applications in sewage and garbage disposal, street 

 cleaning and the sanitary construction of pavements, the sanitation of 

 beating and ventilation of factories, workshops and schools, the medical 

 inspection of schools, the sanitation of railway cars, and stations, and such 

 special sanitary devices as individual drinking cups, dental lavatories in 

 railroad ears, and tbe various applications of sanitation to the farmhouse 

 and rural dwelling. 



The above outline, which is obviously incomplete, suggests some of the 

 things which science in its various branches has done that have been and 

 can be applied in the conservation of human life. Granting that science 

 has done all of these things and many more. I would raise this important 

 question : Is the public at large getting the full benefit of all of this 

 scientific work? Is the public taking advantage of these discoveries of 

 science? In ruy opinion it is not. 



Notwithstanding intensive efforts on the part of state boards of health., 

 extension departments in our universities, instruction given before farmers' 

 institutes, educational activities of anti-tuberculosis societies and insur- 

 ance companies, we find the death rate from preventable diseases decreas- 

 ing very little if at all. In some communities the deaths from preventable 

 diseases are on the increase. In our own State we find very little change 

 in the last ten years in the deaths from preventable diseases. 



This Academy is of course particularly interested in Indiana. Can 

 not this Academy suggest or recommend ways and means to apply through- 

 out this State the various developments of science relating to health and 

 disease prevention in such a way as to create a healthier and longer-lived 

 citizenship? A commission appointed recently in Massachusetts to inves- 

 tigate the high cost of living stated — 



"The increased vital efficiency of the citizens of this State (Mas- 

 sachusetts! which would result from a conservation of tbe present 

 waste of health would, if expended in labor, increase tbe earnings 

 of those whose health is impaired and also lessen the burdens of 



