HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES. 283 



have been completed; as will also the greatly-needed modem and well- 

 equipped general hospital in Manila, the corner stone of which has 

 already been laid. The facilities of this institution, together with the 

 application of the results of the work of research in the field of scientific 

 medicine conducted in the Bureau of Science, must tend greatly to 

 alleviate human suffering from disease and to enable practical instruc- 

 tion to be given in the new medical school just established. 



Sanitary improvements are contemplated or under way in the larger 

 towns of the Archipelago outside of Manila, and under the direction of 

 the Bureau of Public Works the sinking of artesian wells in the provinces 

 will be continued,' thus cutting off a fruitful source of disease in rural 

 communities by furnishing a better sirpply of drinking water. 



The problem of reducing the very high infant mortality in the Phil- 

 ippines, due largely to improper food, seems about to be worked out 

 through the more common use of pure milk, importations of which from 

 Europe, Australia, and the United States have recently reached enormous 

 proportions. Where drops of pure cows' milk were used by Filipinos in 

 the earlier days of American occupation, quarts are now being employed. 

 In actual application the "gota cle leche" idea has been expanded into 

 "litre- de leche." 



The Pure Pood and Drugs Act recently put into force in the Philip- 

 pines will hereafter insure wholesome food, so important in any climate. 

 The Director of Health is of the opinion that "from the character of the 

 foods which have been rejected, it appears probable that much of the 

 illness which has heretofore been ascribed to the tropical climate was 

 probably due not so much to the effects of the climate as to the effects of 

 the chemicals which the food products contained, prepared by foreign 

 manufacturers for the use of the residents of tropical countries." 



Hospitals and other institutions so essential to the well-being of a 

 community and especialty to those far from home, have recently been 

 completed, are already under construction, or will be under way before 

 the close of the year. St. Paul's Hospital, founded by the Archbishop 

 of Manila, has been in operation nearly three years. There have been 

 completed modern hospitals for the Navy at Canacao, for the Army at 

 Port William McKinley and Baguio and at Army posts in other parts 

 of the Archipelago; there are also the University General Hospital in 

 Manila established by the Episcopal Church, and a large general hospital 

 at Uoilo built by the Presbyterians. Two weeks hence the corner stone 

 of the Methodist Hospital in Manila for women and children will be 

 laid, while a new general hospital at Baguio is nearly completed. The 

 churches have also opened several dispensaries in Manila and in the 

 provinces, thus supplementing the work of the Bureau of Health in 

 caring for the sick. 



New club houses and gymnasia are being built in Manila and athletic 



