BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS.* 
By Charles H. Higgins, D.V.S., F.R.M.S., Pathologist, Department of 
Agriculture, Ottawa, Can. 
The title of my paper confronts us with a large variety of 
preparations, some of which have secured an enviable reputa¬ 
tion in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease; many 
are undergoing the evolutionary period, a few of which will 
eventually be discarded, while others have been wholly unable 
to survive the vicissitudes of either practical or theoretical ex¬ 
perimentation. 
It is not my purpose to mention individual products and in¬ 
dicate the results, beneficial or otherwise, following their use in 
the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of diseased conditions. 
My effort, however, will be directed to the consideration of cer¬ 
tain of the more important problems associated with their his¬ 
tory and manufacture. The special indications for their use, the 
methods of application, dosage, and the results obtained there¬ 
from naturally belong to the clinician, although their origin and 
the technicalities surrounding their preparation are usually the 
result of detailed laboratory study. 
I desire to premise my remarks by the statement that the 
development of my theme will be from the very broad stand¬ 
point of preventive medicine as related to public health prob¬ 
lems, and, will in a general way include all biological products, 
whether the minor details refer to the more restricted acceptation 
of the term as embracing comparative or human medicine. We 
cannot separate these products into distinct classes, the one for 
animals and another for man, as both men and animals have 
benefited greatly from their preparation, and both are also in¬ 
terdependent for their very existence. The problems in dealing 
♦Read before The Canadian Public Health Association, at Montreal, December, 1911, 
and reprinted from the Public Health Journal, State Medicine and Sanitary Review. 
282 
