26G 
WISGONSIN STATE AGBIC'ULTUIlAL SOGIETT. 
cular of warning and instruction, which has been widely published 
in the newspapers of the state, and to some extent distributed to 
physicians. 
SEWERAGE AND DRAINAGE. 
The report of Dr. Marks on sewerage and drainage, touches a 
subject of vital importance to every community. The influence of 
drainage upon health is, at the present time, attracting very great 
attention among sanitarians, and it is clearly demonstrable that as 
the drainage of a district is perfect or imperfect, so certain forms 
of disease disappear or prevail. No w^ater-soaked ground can ever 
be healthy, or fit for human habitation. Soil moisture is well 
known to be one of the prolific causes of the tubercular diseases 
w’hich annually claim tens of thousands of victims. Dwellings, oth¬ 
erwise excellent, are often erected in apparent utter thoughtless¬ 
ness of the character of the soil on which they are built, or its ca¬ 
pacity for drainage, where this should have been a primary consid¬ 
eration, and thus not infreque ntly there is laid,not only the found¬ 
ation of a dwelling, but at the same time the foundation of a fever, 
or a consumption. Imperfect sewerage, where a system is estab¬ 
lished, is also a fruitful cause of disease. The escape of sewerage 
matter into our water supplies, or the subtle emanations of sewer 
gas into our dwellings are deadly poisons which sap the citadels of 
life without warning. The subject is a wide and a practical one. 
CONSTRUCTION AND VENTILATION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 
Somewhat closely connected with the subject of sewerage and 
drainage is that of the construction and ventilation of public build¬ 
ings, upon which a preliminary report is made by Gen. BintlifF. 
This is also an extensive field for sanitary study intimately con¬ 
cerning us all; for however carefully we may construct our own 
dwellings, none of us can escape the evil influences connected with 
the construction and ventilation of public buildings. This report 
touches more particularly upon the construction and ventilation of 
the school buildings in which so large a portion of the time of our 
children is spent, pointing out some radical defects which e*xist in 
them, and which lie at the foundation of not a few of the diseases 
which tend to produce a race of invalids. While there are admit¬ 
ted difficulties attending the securing of a satisfactory system of 
ventilation, it is yet evident to every thoughtful observer that very 
