ferent instruments, or with the same instruments in different positions, must be combined in order to get the most probable results. And this is always done in deducing results of importance in the physical sciences. How much more ought it be done in deducing results which are of such importance to the future welfare, development, and even existence of human society. Few individuals, however, are able to spare either the time or the money necessary for the collection of extensive and apparently isolated phenomena of any kind. Very often they get but little sympathy or encouragement in so doing. The first systematic observation of meteors met with but very little encouragement, and for a long time bore very little fruit. Nothing seemed more unsatisfactory or hopeless of results, than to watch and record the evanescent lights that flit across the sky and then are gone forever. But the connection between cometary orbits and the crbits of meteors, pointed out by Schiaparelli, and others, whereby the comet is regarded as the body from whose dissolution the stream of meteors is formed, would have been impossible to discover without these seemingly trivial preliminary observations faithfully recorded. So, also, nothing seemed more unpromising at first than the meteorological records, kept only by a few, who were looked upon rather as visionary enthusiasts, than as sober men of science, seeking for tangible and practical results; but the laws of storms and the storm-signal serv ice are a permanent monument to the memory of these early and self-denying workers. In all the history of science a Tycho precedes Kepler, and a Kepler precedes Newton. First come the gatherers of facts; after them the deducers of laws. The functions and work of the one are as important as those of the other. Very rarely are they blended in the same individual. It is the duty of every community to know all that pertains to its own growth and development or even to its possible decay. And it is bound, by the mere principles of self-interest and economy, to establish such a system of registration of all vital statistics of any importance, as shall enable it, both for the present and the future, to know its own life-history, and the influences that are moulding it for better or for worse as the years pass on.

ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH

ANNUAL SESSION

OF THE

AMERICAN

PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION.

BY J. T. REEVE, M. D., OF APPLETON.

Member of the State Board of Health.

The American Public Health Association is a voluntary organization of sanitarians for comparison of views, for the study of preventive medicine, for concerted action in disseminating sanitary knowledge, and for the practical application of Public Hygiene.

Organized in 1872, its members have been elected" with special reference to acknowledged interest" in public health matters, and it has received the cordial support, and the thoughtful contributions of the most able laborers in the field of State Medicine. Its beneficient influence in the promulgation of sanitary knowledge has been widely felt, and the published volumes of its reports and papers are among the richest contributions to sanitary literature, covering, as they do, a wide range of the most practical questions of Individual and Public Hygiene and of the relations of these to education, to culture and to morality.

These volumes, three in number, contain the most important of the papers presented at the first four meetings of the Association. In its fifth annual session, it was the privilege of the writer to participate, and the following brief abstract of some of the more important of the papers presented has been prepared at the request of other members of the Board who were also in attendance,* as illustrative of the wide variety and important character of the ques

* Drs. Griffin aud Marks and General Bintliff.

tions which are being discussed, and in the hope that it may be not without value in its influence upon those who are interested in the sanitary work of this state.

ADDRESS OF WELCOME.

This session was held in Chicago, on the 25th, 26th and 27th of September, 1877 (Dr. J. H. Ranch, of Chicago, President, Dr. Elisha Harris, of New York, Secretary), and was opened by Hon. Wirt Dexter, who in delivering an Address of Welcome, alluded to the general and almost universal indifference of the people to the problems of public health. The loss of a few millions of dollars by the failure of some of her savings banks was convulsing Chicago to its centre, while unnoticed and unheeded, many times as many millions, were being as surely lost to the same community by neglect of sanitary laws, a loss permeating every grade of society. Men accepted these losses, as a matter of course, without commotion and almost without protest. Yet, upon the removal of unhealthy conditions, and upon the securing of the most healthful, rests the real and continuous prosperity of the city. Every man has a direct pecuniary interest in the health of his neighbor, and in the healthfulness of his surroundings. From a sanitary standpoint, man is his brother's keeper. The presence and prevalence of Contagious and Preventable Diseases result not only in unnecessary loss of life, but in loss of health and vigor to the living, in the decline of traffic, in diminished travel, and in many ways causes an immense pecuniary loss, it being shown that a single epidemic of small-pox cost the city of Philadelphia $21,000,000.

NATURAL CONDITIONS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO.

This Address was followed by an Address from the President, in which the geologic, geographic and topographical conditions of the city of Chicago were discussed. The city is built upon what was evidently once a part of the bed of Lake Michigan. Its surface is nearly level, and its surroundings are low and marshy prairies. Its present level is from eight to twelve feet above the natural surface, yet, notwithstanding these natural disadvantages, a great city has grown here with marvelous rapidity. Its " rivers," once rivulets of a man's stride, have been excavated for commercial purposes, until they are capable of being traversed by great vessels. Into these

almost absolutely currentless canals, pours the sewerage of this immense population. Of course the sanitary problems attending such growth in the midst of such unfavorable natural conditions are complicated and difficult.

These problems were ably discussed in the

ADDRESS OF THE CITY ENGINEER,

who gave a detailed account of the drainage system of the city, including a description of the deepening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, through which a current of lake-water is turned into the Illinois river at a point nearly one hundred miles distant, passing thence into the Mississippi, which for a time relieved and still measurably relieves the city of its sewerage and filth. Mr. Chesbrough also described the water-supply of the city, which is derived from the lake at a point two miles from the shore, and conveyed to the city through two tunuels, which lie from sixty to seventy feet below the surface of the lake, being pumped at the shore end to the height of one hundred and thirty feet. This water is regarded as of remarkable purity.

POLLUTION OF STREAMS.

Following this paper, Dr. Charles F. Folsom, Secretary of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts, discussed the sewerage question and the pollution of streams by sewerage and other refuse, pointing out the dangers arising therefrom, and the necessity for some stringent laws to prevent the befouling of streams and water courses from which supplies of drinking water for towns and cities are derived. The danger to health and life arising from such contamination was dwelt upon and corroborated by remarks from several other members of the Association, and the draft of a law forbidding or regulating the deposit of sewerage matter or other filth in streams, which had been prepared with reference to securing its passage in Massachusetts, was presented for criticism or suggestion. The law proposes to give to the State Board of Health large discretionary and regulating powers. It met with evident favor from the Association, and was commended to the favorable consideration of all State Boards of Health.

PROPOSED SANITARY SURVEY.

Dr. Harris, the Secretary of the Association, in presenting his

report, referred to the desirability of a Sanitary Survey of the United States, which should illustrate by accurate maps, the topography and hydrography of the whole country, with reference to the practical questions of sanitary drainage, and of the healthfulness of sites for towns and for residence. In this way the influence of stagnant waters, of swampy and marshy grounds, and of differ ences in elevation can be intelligently studied. The work was commended to all State and other Health Boards. Dr. Harris referred to the increasing interest felt in Sanitary Science, and to the advocacy of Public and Private Hygiene by the Press, the Pulpit and the Schoolmaster.

THE SANITARY GEOGRAPHY OF CONSUMPTION.

Prof. H. A. Johnson read a very able paper, giving the results of study into the Sanitary Geography of Consumption, discussing the relative prevalence of the disease in different parts of the country, deaths from consumption compared with deaths from other diseases, and the causes modifying the prevalence of the disease. The con. clusions reached were, that while the general death-rate from all causes was diminishing in the United States, the death-rate from consumption was increasing. Some of the influences causing this were:-1. The Origin of the Population. 2. Soil Moisture and Atmospheric Changes. 3. Density of Population. 4. Occupation and Mode of Living.

Dr. Gihon of the U. S. Navy added some interesting corroborative testimony of the influence of dampness, showing the great increase of Pulmonary Diseases, in leaky vessels, or in vessels where the decks were kept constantly damp, while on vessels where the decks were kept perfectly dry, these diseases were comparatively

rare.

RELATION OF HYGIENE TO EDUCATION.

Two papers on allied topics were presented during the session, the one by Dr. J. M. Gregory, President of the Illinois Industrial University, "On the Relations of Hygiene to the Higher Education" obtained in Colleges and Universities, and the other by Dr. C. N. Hewitt, Secretary of the Minnesota State Board of Health, "On the Relations of Hygiene to the Lower Education" obtained in Common or Public Schools.

The importance of these problems can hardly be over-estimated.