514 
PREVENTION OF DISEASE 
in quarantine, the loss of money is the amount he might 
have earned. In the case of a typhoid fever epidemic the 
total loss is many thousands of dollars. Further, there is 
no adequate measure of the sufferings of those who die and 
the heartaches of those who survive. But both the suffering 
and the financial loss can be greatly lessened by improving 
our sanitary laws and aiming at a better state of health for 
all the people. An increase in taxes to provide cleaner 
streets, public playgrounds, proper sewage disposal, and 
adequate inspection of milk, meat, and water, is really an 
economy. For although such improvements cost money, 
they are not so expensive as epidemics of disease and the 
maintenance of hospitals and of orphan asylums. 
394. Epidemics after Wars. — The return of two million 
men from Europe after living there for several months, to 
scatter throughout the United States, raised public health 
questions of great interest. After the Crimean War (1854- 
1856), cholera was epidemic in France and England; after the 
Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), smallpox was epidemic in 
England, Germany, and Austria; after the American Civil 
War (1860-1864), typhoid fever spread to many of the 
northern cities ; and after the Spanish-American War (1902), 
typhoid and smallpox were very common. These historical 
facts show that there has been great danger in the past from 
returning troops. 
The officials in the army and navy thoroughly under¬ 
stood the dangers and tried to take proper precautions 
against the spread of disease ; but the task was very great. 
Some of the epidemic diseases in Europe were of the types 
which, once well started, might produce great havoc. They 
included trench fever, typhus, relapsing fever, cholera, and 
plague. Most of these are transmitted by vermin, most 
commonly the louse. In general the conditions are not favor¬ 
able in the United States for the transmission of disease by 
lice, although in certain congested quarters they are common. 
