THE WORK OF THE SANITARY ENGINEER IN ITS 
RELATION TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 
J. O. NAGLE, 
Professor of Civil Engineering in the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. 
In the pursuit of pleasure and profit man often sets an immoderate 
value upon trivial things, but no matter how earnestly he may follow 
some special, line of work he very naturally and properly places a higher 
value upon life than upon anything else in this world. It would there- 
fore seem that the study of methods for the prolongation and preserva- 
tion of life should be of most vital importance. Nevertheless, the 
masses have always been inclined to leave such matters to the physician, 
forgetting that it is the primary duty of the physician to cure disease, 
though he should also point out methods of prevention as well. The 
construction of appliances for the removal of the causes of disease and 
the execution of works that act as preventive measures come under the 
supervision of the sanitary engineer, and in the direct accomplishment 
of the prevention of diseases in populous communities, and the conse- 
quent prolongation and preservation of life, he has done as much, per- 
haps, as all other agencies combined. It is not usual nor necessary that 
the engineer be an investigator as to the methods of which disease agents 
accomplish their work, but he should know wherein the elements of 
danger lie and it should be his duty to provide measures for removing 
such elements before time is given for harm to be done. 
Perfect health is the exception rather than the rule, and the mortuary 
reports of cities show that comparatively few of the deaths chronicled 
occur from old age, which should be the only normal cause of death. 
One would naturally think that a human mechanism weakened by the 
wear of rflany years should succumb to the attacks of disease more readily 
than would a younger and more vigorous one, but by far the larger per- 
centage of deaths occur among infants and very young children. 
The first essential of good health is a good constitution, but our cap- 
ital in this respect comes to us at birth — a heritage from our ancestors. 
Afterwards education and experience must evolve the rules that are to 
govern our lives in the struggle with disease — a struggle that is never 
ceasing and which requires the maintenance of the greatest possible vig- 
