50 OLD AND NEW VIEWS ON
stimulating their production, so that a system of defence is thereby organized. The fact that tubercle bacilli disappear earlier from the sputum during this treatment is very remarkable, and everything points to the necessity of further in- vestigation in the matter. But such investigation ought to be carried on in a hospital or sanatorium rather than at a tuberculin dispensary, where there is no means of observing the effect of the tuberculin on the patient’s system or of controlling the inoculations and their results.
Effects of Improved Hygienic Conditions.
To sum up, What are the prospects of the crusade against tuberculosis in this country, and how can we further them? We must bear in mind the blessed agencies of prevention which, when set in motion, go on pursuing their beneficent course independently of fashion and caprice. Such are improved drainage, more cubic space and less over- crowding, better food and more of it, more air and sunlight, cleanliness of house and person, and greater opportunities for play and exercise. It is probable that a large proportion of the two-thirds reduction in our phthisis mortality during the last fifty years is due to such agencies, and as the standard of public opinion is raised these ought to be more widely spread and to act more powerfully. What a splendid effect a good town-planning \ scheme ought to exercise on the public health! �
