378 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 
never would have been able to devote his life, energy and great genius 
to those important discoveries through which thousands of lives have 
been saved in all civilized countries during the past few decades. It 
was while working in this governmental institution, which is doing 
exactly the work the Owen bill asks the federal department to do, that 
Koch discovered the tubercle bacillus and the bacillus of cholera. Be- 
cause of the discovery of the comma bacillus, we no longer have those 
fearful cholera epidemics which formerly decimated our own and other 
countries. This disease can now be easily diagnosed and by proper 
quarantine its mortality can be reduced to a minimum. And what 
shall we say of the progress that has been made in the fight against 
tuberculosis because the federal department of health of Germany en- 
abled Koch to do research work and thus discover the bacillus of tuber- 
culosis to be the primary and only direct cause of the disease? As 
director of the hygienic institute and member of the Reichsgesund- 
heitsamt he inaugurated that wonderfully effective campaign against 
tuberculosis whereby the mortality from this disease in Germany has 
been reduced to nearly one half of what it was prior to the discovery 
of the tubercle bacillus. 
Under Koch’s inspiration and guidance and in the same institute 
many great scientific discoveries of incalculable value to humanity were 
made. Foremost among them are the works of Ehrlich, one of Koch’s 
most celebrated pupils, who recently gave to the world a new remedy 
which promises to prove a specific in an affliction from which mankind 
has suffered for centuries. 
As co-worker in the Kaiserliche Gesundheitsamt and the Institute 
for Infectious Diseases, affiliated therewith, we must also mention Behr- 
ing, the discoverer of the anti-diphtheritic serum. Thanks to the dis- 
covery of this serum thousands of young lives are now saved which would 
formerly have fallen victims to the terrible disease known as malignant 
diphtheria. This was made possible by the opportunity given to the 
workers in the Reichsgesundheitsamt and Imperial Institute for Infec- 
tious Diseases. 
Can there be any better argument in favor of the establishment of 
a federal department of health? 
