M 1 UC-NRLF 71 B 3 10b 331 A Quarter Century ••• V/P ... Public Health Work In Michigan • • • • • '•• . »L • • . • . 1 V" '^'^" 30 H ■-■-■.- t^ V 1873-1895 c C * THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH AND A QUARTER CENTURY OF PUBLIC-HEALTH WORK IN MICHIGAN reply to Yours of AUg;-?--^ 1899. Office of tlie Secretary of the State Board of Health. Lansing,-^ Midi., i^^^-^v±A-^ ^^^^' - r. ^..^....^--r^TrrrnrrtTr-^ "A Quarter century of which -rras an announce of a Jf^^ ^J^^opernan^t last AuguGt in Detroit and ^as oi no_ value. It is out of P^int^ /; Terz/ respectfully, fryUyu/ Vv^'^^^:^-/^^:^' Robert Smith Printing Co., State Printers and Binders, Lansing, Michigan. r ^^^"^ >: THIS SIDE IS FOR THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH AND A QUARTER CENTURY OF PUBLIC-HEALTH WORK IN MICHIGAN HY THEO. R. MacCLURE, Chief Clerk State Board of Health Office, LANSING, MICHIGAN. [Reprint No. 524.] [Supplement to the Annual Report of the Michigan State Board of Health for 1397. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. Robert Smith Printing Co., State Printers and Binders, Lansing, Michig.\n. PUBLIC -^ UBRAR^' "Hygiene aims at rendering- growth more perfect, life more vigorous, decay less rapid, death more remote." Edmund A. Parkes, M. D., F. R. S. » • '['■ ''.'Everi^ nqdiFj^ii^l shall be taught to become the intelligent custodian of his own health." ' ' *' , - • ' •■ Sir James Coxe. ~ TRUTH. 1 W^*"^'^'0 D^iPwaT "i-^i' hiMm^ Membership of Board in 1898. Hon. Frank Weli^s, President, - . - - Frkd R. Belknap, M. D., Samuel G. Milner, M. D., Frederick G. Now, Sc. D., M. D., Hon. Aaron V. McAlvay, - . _ _ _ Prof. Delos Fall, Sc. D., - Henry B. Baker, M.D., Secretary mid Executive Officer, Lansing-. Lansing". Niles. Grand Rapids. Ann Arbor. Manistee. Albion. K" Preface. Having been connected with the office of the State r.oard oi Ilcalih lor nearly a decade, having observed during that period tlie nnscjltish, faiihlul and philan- thropic worli of its members, and having noted with intorest tlie advanced stand it has talj;en on subjects bearing directly and indirectly upon public-healih work, in a letter dated Sept. 15, 189G, I respectfully requested that the Board grant me permission to compile a record of the labors and achievements of the Michigan State Board of Health which should include brief sketches of its members fn»m the time of its organization. At a meeting of the Board hold .Tnnunry S, 1807. it was voted that this request be granted. Therefore I have prepared the following pages which are intended to exhibit "A Quarter Century of I'ublic-Health Work in Michigan" and respectfully dedicate them to the president, secretary, members and ex-members of the Michigan State Board of Health. THEO. K. MacCLUI:E. Lansing, Michigan, July. 1898. i-K:>i\ \f:^i\ CONTENTS. Page Title Pag-e 1 List of Present Members of Board 2 Preface 3 Contents 5 Biographical Sketches, with engraved likenesses 6 Sanitary Knowledg-e Twenty-five Tears Ago 7 Advancement in Sanitary Knowledgre 8 How the State Board Came to be Established 8 Organization of a Public-Health Service for the State 10 By-laws of the Michig-an State Board of Health 11 Duties of Local Health Officials 13 Compensation for Local Health Work 14 Co-operation of the People with Health Ofl^cials 15 Injuries and Loss of Life and Property Consequent on the use of Kerosene, Gasoline, etc., and the Establishment of State Inspection of Illuminating- Oils 15 Poisonous Wall Papers, etc Ii5 Resuscitation of the Drowned and Electrically Shocked 17 Ventilation 17 Examinations in Sanitary Science 18 Meteorolog"ical Statistics 19 Sickness Statistics 19 Bulletins of "Health in Michigan" 20 What are the Dangerous Communicable Diseases? 20 Michigan Plan for the Restriction of the Dangerous Diseases 21 Communicable-Disease Statistics 22 Vital Statistics,— Mortality Statistics 22 Life-Saving in Michigan by Public-Health Work 23 Money Value of Public-Health M^ork 24 State Live Stock Sanitary Commission 2t Animals' Diseases Dangerous to Man 25 Michigan Plan for Sanitary Conventions 25 Conferences of Health Officers in Michigan 26 Educational Campaig-n 26 Isolati .n Hospitals 27 Educational Hospital or Home for Consumptives 27 Sanitary Science in the Schools 28 Alcohol and Narcotics ^ Coroners and Coroners' Inquests 30 Inspection of State Institutions and Public Buildings 31 Advice Relative to Systems of Sewerage and Water Supply 32 Surface and Sub-Soil Drainage 33 Michigan, a Summer Resort and Health Resort State 33 Abatemc nt of Nuisances 34 A'enereal Diseases 34 Transportation of Dead Bodies 3o Vaccination and Revaccination 36 Page Michig'an Inspection of Immigrants 37 Notices of Possibly-Infected Immigrants Destined to Michigan 38 Inter-State Notification of Dangerous Communicable Diseases 38 State. Laboratory of Kygiene 39 Tyrotoxicon— Cheese Poison 40 Disinfection Day - 40 Sanitary Day 41 Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere 41 Regulation of the Practice of Medicine 42 Legislative Investigations 42 The Friends of Public-Health Work. 43 Publications of the Board 44 The State Board of Health Library and its Card Catalogue , 44 State Board of Health Exhibit at World's Fair and Tennessee Centennial 45 What Outsiders Think of the Work of the Board 45 The Presidents 46 The Veteran Secretary 46 The Members 47 Biographical Sketches, with Engraved Likenesses. Opposite page. Ira H. Bartholomew, M. D 10 Homer Owen Hitchcock, A. M., M. D 11 Robert Clark Kedzie, A. M., M. D 14 Zenas Emory Bliss, M. D 15 Rev. Charles Henry Brigham, A. B 18 Henry Francis Lyster, A. M., M. D 19 Rev. John S. Goodman 22 Arthur Hazelwood. M. D 23 Rev. Daniel Cook Jacokes, A. :M., D. D 26 Hon. LeRoy Parker 27 Prof. John Harvey Kellogg, M. D 30 Edwin Atson Strong. A. B., A. M 31 Hon. John Avery, M. D 32 Victor C. Vaughan. M. S., M. D., Sc. D., Ph. D 33 Columbus V. Tyler, M. D 34 Prof. Delos Fall, B. S., M. S 35 Mason Wilbur Gray, B. S., M. D 36 Hon. Frank Wells 37 Samuel George Milner, A. B., A. M., M. D 38 Hon. George H. Granger, M. D 39 Judge Aaron Vance McAlvay, A. B., LL. B , 40 Fred Rice Belknap. B. S., M. D 41 Frederick George Novy, B. S., Sc. D., M. D 42 Henry Brooks Baker, A. M., M. D 43 Certificate of Thanks 44 Sanitary Knowledge Twenty=five Years Ago. Sanitary knowledge twenty-five years ago can be best judged by the literatui*e of that period, and tlie literature of that period was not onlj- meagre but exceed- ingly indefinite. Among the people generally' those in sympathy Avith sanitary worli were in the small minority. The prevailing opinions were that such diseases as diphtheria, scarlet fever, etc., were due to climatic conditions, to filth, were the will of God; and many superstitious beliefs were prevalent. One superstitution was that diphtheria could be prevented if a wafer previously moistened in a dipth- theric mouth was placed in the mouth of the individual to be protected. Even physicians who stood high in their profession were in doubt concerning tlie origin of dangerous diseases. Strange as it may seem, however, typhoid fever was then believed by some to be not only a comnmnicable but a contagious disease, that the materics morhi were spread by direct contact, and through the air. At this period the germ theoiy of disease was in its infancy; it was hardly an hypothesis. It was not uncommon to have authors with seeming sincerity char- acterize the so-called germs as iictions of the imagination. "Most of those who did believe in germs held the doctrine of spontaneous generation. However, there were those more advanced minds who believed that certain maladies were due to living germs, organisms capable of multiplication, organisms whicli when intro- duced into the body produced poisons that were fatal to human life. But the exact nature of the microscopic organisms, how they grew, liow they were intro- duced into the human body, were unsolved questions. It was known that vaccination was a preventive of small-pox. bin its popularity was hampered by the frequent bad effects from the application of contaminated virus. Concerning the other dangerous communicable diseases, there was practically no restrictive or preventive measures in force; they were either unknown or dis- regarded. Isolation of the patient suffering from such a disease was thought to be an act of barbarism, a cruelty to the patient, a hardship lo the family. Disinfection of clothing, rooms, etc. was not often practiced. Heating by means of stoves, fire-places, and other direct means, had been and were, at that time, the methods employed; drainage for healtli or for any other purpose was not a matter of science; sewerage and the sanitary disposal of waste and excreta was but infrequently employed, outside of the large cities. Sanitary knowledge twenty-five years ago was not in the possession of the thousands as it is today. 8 A Quarter Century of Public-Health Advancement in Sanitary Knowledge. Since the work of Pasteur, Koch, Loffler, Behring, Eberth, Klein, Kitisato, and .o.thers, preyentive sanitation has come to stand on a sound footing; the theory of the 'oausatidti (if 'specinc disease by germs has become a science. There is no longer doubt concerning the'.matetHes morM of communicable diseases; germs of such dis- eases. hJare '^been; i^lsi'ted, have been grown in the laboratoi*y, have been Inoculated into and the disease has been produced in animals. From these animals germs have been isolated, other animals inoculated with these minute organisms, and the dis- ease produced as before. This process may be continued indefinitely, and furnishes the strongest possible evidence that each of these diseases is due to a special germ. Although progress has been comparatively rapid, new claims along this line have needed to stand the crucial test of confirmative independent researches by a number of investigators, and public liuowledge has come by continuous and vigorous efforts of the leaders in scientific work. The specific germs of certain dangerous diseases have been discovered, studied, and their nature learned. As a result of this knowledge mortality from various infectious diseases has dimin- ished, and sanitation has revolutionized the methods of living of both poor and rich. In Michigan nearly every public building and many residences are now supplied with the improved methods of heating and ventilating, and the cold or vitiated dwellings and public buildings of a quarter of a century ago have become less and less common; systeais of sewerage and drainage are to be found in nearly every city and village of any size; the construction of house-drains and sewers is more perfect, better material is used, traps are ventilated; and many other improvements in accordance with modern knowledge have been adopted. Some of this advancement in knowledge and practical sanitation may be justly claimed as a result of the educational campaign of the Michigan State Board of Health. How the State Board Came to be Established. About the only public-health work that had been done in this country, up to the time of the movement for a State Board of Health, had been done in the army. The army physician's pay did not depend upon the number of patients he had, but the extent of his labors did have a direct relation to the number of his patients. The instructions from the Surgeon-General's office were voluminous^ and related almost exclusively to the prevention of sickness among soldiers. Three years' experience as an army surgeon undoubtedly gave Doctor Baker the idea that a State public-health service would be of value. In Michigan there was a State Board of Agriculture created to look after the interests of the agriculturalists, and it became apparent to the father of public- health work in Michigan that the health interests would equally warrant the establishment of a State Board to promote those interests. Work in Michigan, 1873-1S98. :> One of Doctor Baker's first efforts iu ibis direction was to interest Doctor I. 11. Bartholomew of Lansing, his partner in the practice of medicine dnring tlie years 1SG6-6S. In 1870 the effort was renewed, but Doctor Bartholomew's reply then as before was "One man can do nothing", conveying the idea tliat it w;is a hope- less undertaking. However, by persistent effort Doctor Bartholomew did become interested, and thereafter the movement was n6t confined to "one man", there were "two men". Probably the move for a State Board of Health would have been less vigorous had it not been that similar action had been taken in Massachusetts. Tho first report of the Massachusetts Board was made about January, ISTtt. nnd s^-nr to Doctor Baker at Wenona in a package of Massachusetts vital statistics reports; and immediately after the receipt of the report, a bill was framed by him providing for a State Board of Health in Michigan. In June, 1870, the State Medical Society met in Lansing, and Doctor Baker read a paper, and advocated the creation of a State Board. Doctor Bartholomew was elected president of the society, and afterwards appointed Doctor Baker as chair- man of the committee to assist the Secretary of State in the compilation of vital statistics in accordance with the State law. The same law also provided for a similar committee to represent the faculty of the Michigan University. Prof. A. B. Palmer had been appointed that committee, but gave way to Doctor Baker in order that the effort for the proposed State Board miglit be better sul>served. About October, 1870, Doctor Baker came to Lansing to superintend this coniDiiatioU. Soon after the fall election he had a conference with Senator-elect I. M. Cravath of Lansing, w^ho introduced a bill to create a State Board of Health md made it the main measure in which he was interested duiing that session. By individual effort with other senators and by speeches, he wrought vigorously for the passage of this proposed legislation. The bill was not favorably reiiorted from the com- mittee to w^hom it was referred, possibly because one member of that committee was a dealer in drugs and patent medicines, and may have thouglit the proposi'd legislation might interfere with his business. Hon. Francis B. Stockbridge was also a member of that committee and was in sympathy with the movement, but said the bill had no chance wliatever of passing the house of representatives, th<'i'e- fore it was a waste of effort to try to have it pass th% senate. It failed to i)ass in committee of the whole. Doctor Robert C. Kedzie, Homer O. Hitchcock, E. W. Jenks, and A. P.. Palmer became interested in the effort; the first bill was so drawn as to legislate into office the members of the proposed Board; and the above-mentioned j)ersons Avitli Doctor I. H. Bartholomew and Doctor Henry B. Baker were named as its mem- bers. At the meeting of the State ^fedical Society, at Kalamazoo. Juiw. 1S71. as special committee on vital statistics. Doctor Baker made an extensive report in w^hich he reviewed the unsuccessful effort for a State Board of Healtli. During the two years that intervened between the sessions of 1871 and 1873, the persons mentioned in the original bill, and a few other persons, wrought assiduously to create public opinion in favor of a State Board of Health. Experi- 2 lU A Quarter Century of Public-Health ence and observation concerning two dangers to life and health— illuminating oils and poisonous wall papers— supplied evidence which was effectively used as arguments for the need of a central board to protect the health and lives of the citizens of Michigan. Editorials and many short articles on the need for a State Board of Health were written and published. The retiring and incoming gover- nors were pursuaded to make favorable recommendations in their messages to the legislature. Having in mind the proposed establishment of the Board, Doctor Baitholomew Avas elected to the legislature. He introduced a bill that differed from the preceding one in that it did not dictate to the governor who should be api)ointed members of such a Board. Professor Kedzie lectured before the legis- lature on subjects relating to dangers to life and health from poisonous wall papers, dangerous illuminating oils, and deaths from typhoid fever caused by using water of wells into which the contents of privy vaults had leached. During some of Doctor Kedzie's experiments showing the explosiveness of light oils, legislators retired from the hall stating that they did not care to risk their lives. Besides those heretofore mentioned as laboring for a State Board of Health, the following-named persons are entitled to recognition: Senator H. H. Wheeler, who had charge of the bill in the senate; Senator J. Webster Childs of Ypsilanti; Hon. L. D. Watkins of Manchester; Doctor Manly Miles, Stephen D. Bingham, and Benjamin B. Baker of Lansing; Dr. A. ¥. Wlielan of Hillsdale; Dr. S. S. French of Battle Creek; and Doctor E. .J. Bonine of Niles. With some opposition, the bill passed both branches of the legislature, was s. 1.% Co=operation of the People With Health Officials. Experience in Michigan has indicated that it is necessary to have the coopera- tion of the people, if the dangerous connnnnicable diseases are to be restricted and prevented. In order to accomplisli this result, the State Board of ll»'alili lias published leaflets relating to the modes of spreading and the liest methods for tlie restriction and prevention of such diseases. These leaflets have bern printed by tens of thousands; and, whenever a dangerous disease is reported to the central office, the Secretary has usually sent to the health officer several copies of tlie special leaflet relating to the disease in question. The healtli officer is requested to place one of these instructive publications wiili tlie family where the disea>e exists, and a copy with each neighbor of the infected premises. The instruction comes at a time when it is desirable to know about the dangerous disease in question; and. in this way a general cooperation of the people is sought to V)e secured. The people are thus educated and become familiar with their duties in the premises, they are taught wherein the dangers lie. and the manner in which the life and health of their dear ones can be protected; diseases are then promi»tIy reported to the local health officials; and active efforts are employed for the eradication of the disease. Injuries and Loss of Life and Property Consequent on the Use of Kerosene, Gaso- line, etc., and the Establishment of State Inspection of Illuminating Oils. One of the first subjects that occupied the attention of the Board was the dan- gerous illuminating" oils being brought into Michigan from Ohio. There was practically no test in Michigan, the only test being that by the manufacturer by means of the Tagliabue open cup. Dangerous oils were branded 'Warranted to stand 17.j° Fire Test", etc., and other such deceptions were common. It being apparent that propert3', life and health were being jeopardized in Michigan by reason of these light and inflammable oils. Prof. Kedzie undertook the examination of samples from various parts of the State, and nearly uniformly it was found that the sample fell far below what it was branded, although I'rof. Ke>latm-e in this connection. In order to place the testing of oils on a more accurate foundation, the Stat«' Board of Health recommended that the legal test be l>y the •'.Michigan State lioard of Health oil tester", a cup devised by Pi-of. Kedzie and believed to give mnrc accurately the actual condition of the oil when bm-ning in an ordinary lamp. Through the efforts of the Board, in 1875 that cup was made the Icg.il cup. and no oil cotdd be sold in Michigan that did not stand a flash test of ].'»«)" F. or a l)urning test of 140° F. Although efforts Avere repeatedly made to reduce the legal te^t. tlie .Miaper and other articles containing arsenical coloring matter. Resuscitation of the Drowned and Electrically Shocked. Secretary Baker first called the Board's attention to rules for the resuscitation of the drowned. The subject was referred to a committee consisting of Professor Kedzie and Secretary Baker, and after nearly a year's effort to perfect rules for the treatment of the drowned, the committee reported in 1874. The committee was aided by Doctor J. H. Beech of Coldwater. The rules recommended by the com- mittee were modeled after those prepared by Doctor Benjamin Ilowaixl, and pub- lished by the Life-Saving Society of New York; but in some important particulars were new. The Michigan iiiles were published as Avail posters and in leatlet foi-m, with illustrations, and the original draft can be found in the annual report of the Board for 1874; Because of the numerous inland lakes and streams and the Great Lakes in and around Michigan, the chances for loss of life by drowning has been very great. Thousands of lives have been thus sacrificed, but just how many have been saved through compliance with the recommendations of the State Board it is impossible to estimate, but the number is large. Many instances of enforcement of the rules, resulting in the saving of life, have reached the office of the Board, and this por- tion of the Board's work has been highly commended. Thousands of the leaflets have been issued and distributed over Michigan. Tlie leaflet has several times been revised, and the latest edition will be found printed in the annual report for 1897, and deals with the treatment of the electrically shocked as well as the drowned. Ventilation. Whether a room receives a sufficient amount of fresh and germ-free air. whether a room is free from drafts, whether the system of ventilation is comparatively inex- pensive, are questions of importance; and when that room typifies the rooms in which the people of the State live, these questions have a direct bearing upon the healthy condition of our people. In order to have healthy men and v/omen, care must be taken that the children are supplied with plenty of good wliolesomo air. 3 18 A Quarter Century op Public-Health The importance which the State Board has attached to this subject has been emi- nent, and many addresses and papers have been published and distributed by the Board. One which went minutely into the principles of ventilation, and is appli- cable to the present time, is the one published by the Board in its first (1873) annual report. The paper was by Prof. R. C. Kedzie, and was entitled "School Buildings: in relation to their construction, warming, and ventilation, as influenc- ing the health of teachers and scholars". The report of 1873 is yet in very frequent demand because of that article. One valuable paper "On suggestions respecting the Ventilation of Buildings", by Dr. John H. Kellogg, was printed in the annual report of the Board for 1891, and another recent paper was by Doctor Henry B. Baker and is printed in the annual report for 1894. By reference to the alphabetical index (Reprint No. 522) printed by the office, it will be seen that during the existence of the Board many papers on this subject have been written. Examinations in Sanitary Science. Upon suggestion of Doctor Lyster, Oct. 8, 1878, the Board appointed a committee consisting of Doctor Henry F. Lyster and Hon. LeRoy Parker to report upon a plan for the examination of candidates in subjects relating to the public health. The report of the committee is printed in the annual report for 1879. The Board had in mind the improvement of the health service of the State, thinking that calling attention to the fact that the Board would examine candidates would tend to have local boards of health appoint health officers who had been thus examined. It was also believed that health officers would be stimulated to increase their knowledge upon health subjects and- thus better qualify themselves to perform the duties required of them by law. The Board also had in mind that after the movement had been established an amendment to the law might require that only such persons as had passed the examination would be eligible to the office of health officer. The first examination was conducted by the Board July 14, 1880, and there were two successful candidates. The questions asked are printed in the annual report for 1880, and a list of books that were recommended by the Board as valu- able to candidates for examination is printed in the same report. An amended list of questions is printed in the report for 1881. The reason that the proffer for examination was short lived, was because of the lack of applicants, and undoubtedly the reason why there were not more ap- plicants was because it was not required by law in order to fill the office of guardian of the public health. But some day this plan should be resumed and a law enacted which will require that health officers shall be fully qualified to perform the duties required by law. CHARLES HENRY BRIGHAM, A. B. T^EV. MR. BRIGHAM was 1^ born July 27, 1820, in Bos- J- ^ ton, Mass., and died Feb. 19, 1879, in Brooklyn, N. Y., having- been a resident of Michi- g-an for thirteen years. He o-rad- uated from Harvard University- in 1839, and was an active minis- ter for many years. He was a member of the American Oriental Society, the German Oriental So- ciety, the American Philolog-ical Society, the American Social Science Association, etc.; and during- the years 1872-8 served as a member of the Ann Arbor School Board. For 12 years dur- ing- his life he was a Lecturer in the Theolog-ical School at Meadville, Penn. April 25, 1S73, he was by Governor Bag-ley appointed member of the Michigan State Board (»f Health for a term of two years; and April 2h, 1S75, Governor Bag-ley ag-ain appointed him, for a term of six years. At the end of an cig-ht 3-ear service, because of ill health, he retired from public-health work; resolutions of reg-ret and sympathy were adopted b}' the Board July lo, 1877, and are printed on page Ixiii of the annual report of the Board for that 3'ear. He was a prolific contributor upon theolog-ical subjects. As committee of the Board on "Occupations and Health" he prepared a report on "The Influence of Occupations upon Health" that is printed in the report of the Board for 1875, and wrote a paper on " Recreations considered with reference to their Influence on Health" which was printed in the annual report for 1877. 18 HENRY FRANCIS LYSTER, A. M., M. D. B * ^ OCTOR IvYSTER was born at Sanderscourt, Ireland, Nov. 9, 1837, and died Oct. 3, 1894, while enroute for California. Both his de- g-rees were received from the Michi- g-an University, in 1857 and 1859 respectively. He served in the Medi- cal Department of the U. S. Army for the years 1861-5, was a member of the Loyal Leg-ion, and was a member of the Detroit School Board. He was a member of the Detroit Medical and Library Association, Wayne Count}' Medical Society, Michig-an State Med- ical Society, National Association of Railway Surg-eons, and the National Association of Medical Directors of Life Insurance Companies. Doctor Lyster was professor in the Michi- g-an Medical Colleg-e from its org-anization until its amalg-amation with the Detroit CoUeg-e of Medicine; and, for four years, he served in the capacity of non-resident professor in the State University. His educa- tional work especially related to Surg-ery, Theory and Practice and Clin- ical Medicine. Having- been appointed April 25, 1873, by Governor Bag-ley as member of the orig-inal State Board of Health, he served as member of the Board continuously for eig-hteen years, having- been twice reappointed. During^ this period he was an active and energ-etic member, especially along- the lines in which he was most interested, and his name will be frequently found mentioned in this souvenir pub- lication, in connection with draining- for health and for profit, the evil effects of alcohol, the prevention of consumption, and various other subjects on which he wrote extensively. Work in Michigan, 1873-1898. ' 19 Meteorological Statistics. Michigan is not only remarkable for its extraordinary typograidiical characteris- tics but it has peculiar meteorological conditions. The mean temperature varies but slightly from the mean temperature of localities farther east or west in the same latitude, but the changes are widely different and present peculiar phenomena. That the meteorological conditions have a direct influence on the condition of health, there is no doubt. Although meteorological observations have been taken since 1S.34 in places in Michigan, one of the first to take regular and systematic and complete observations was Prof. R. C. Kedzie, of the Agricultural College, who begini the M'ork about 1864. But there was no systematic effort to collect such statistics throughout Michigan until the movement was started by Doctor IBaker in 1870, when he was supei-vising the compilation of vital statistics in the State Department, at Lansing, under the direction of which he was working, to collect meteorological statistics for the purpose of study in connection with mortality sta- tistics. The study was commenced even before the State Board of Health was established, and was probably the first effort ever made to show a casual relation between the atmospheric conditions and mortality from such diseases as pneumonia and croup. The beginning of the study will be found in the Registration Report for 1870. However, the work did not cease when Doctor Baker became Secretary of the State Board of Health, and it has been in operation during the many years' exist- ence of the Board. In each annual report of the State Board since 1S7G will be found a study of the meteorological conditions in Michigan. Not only have the mortality statistics but the morbidity statistics been studied in connection with the meteorological statistics, and the work is a part of one of the most interesting and scientific studies the Board has carried along. In recent years this portion of the annual report of the Board has been reprinted in pamplilet form, for con- venient study by meteorologists and others studying the causation of diseases. Sickness Statistics. Mortality statistics are valuable and have supplied important information that has plajod a significant role in medical and sanitary progress; but these statistics are collected only after death has occurred. Morbidity or sickness statistics deal with the condition of the living. For importance and usefulness the Michigan Sickness Statistics are second to none in tlie World. The system was modelled after that devised in England by Benjamin Ward Richardson, M. 1>.. LL. D., and copied by the Massachusetts State Board of Health; in each of which instances the attempt was short lived. While the Michigan plan was not the first, it has been successfully maintained through a long series of years; and its value is enhanced by its long extent. The expense coHuected with the collection of the facts concerning every case of sickness, would be enormous and of no gl-eater value than a careful collection of the facts concerning the sickness that Mould come 20 A Quarter Century of Public-Health under the observation of representative medical practitioners in active general practice in various parts of the State. This was the plan that Secretary Baker pre- sented to the Board at its meeting in July, 1876, when the worli w^as authorized and commenced. At first the Board collected the facts concerning twenty-two of the most important causes of sickness. It was then the practice that the weekly card reports by a physician should include not only the cases seen by him but by the other physicians in that vicinity. In Ma;J^ 1885, the practice was changed and the card-reporter was requested to include in the report only the cases of sickness under his own observation, without regard to area. The sta- tistics rest upon the law of averages, a sample of the sickness in the State is taken as the condition of all sickness; and, the system has been proved to be useful. The average number of cards received each week for a series of years was about 60. Twenty-eight important diseases are now reported upon. In each of the annual reports since 1876 will be found a compilation of these statistics, and a study of the relation between the atmospheric conditions and conditions of sickness. Doctor Baker, by his unique systems of curves, has been able to show verj- graphically that the sickness from pneumonia is quantitatively related to the atmospheric temperature and atmospheric ozone, the colder the atmosphere and the more ozone the more sickness from pneumonia; that the curve representing the sickness from influenza quite nearly coincides with the curve representing atmospheric ozone; and many other such interesting relations between sickness and atmospheric conditions. One wishing to study this important work in detail, can do so by referring to the annual reports of the Board since 1876, and by reading an article on "Sickness Statistics" in the annual report for 1892. Bulletins of "Health in Michigan." In connection with the sickness statistics and from the data received upon the weekly card-reports of sickness, the Board has since 1882 issued a weekly bulletin of "Health in Michigan". The data are compiled from physicians' reports from various parts of the State.- The bulletin publishes the condition of sickness in Michigan during each week, and compares the sickness of that week with that of the preceding week. The places where each dangerous communicable disease is present are mentioned. Monthly and quarterly bulletins similar to the weekly have been published. These bulletins are distributed where it is thought they will be likely to be appreciated, and a statement of what they include can be found in each annual report of the Board since 1883. What are the Dangerous Communicable Diseases? The Michigan legislature wisely left the question of "what are the dangerous communicable diseases" to the highest authority on that subject in the State— the State Board of Health; that Board not only studies the vital statistics of the Work in Michigan, 1S73-1898. iM State, but keeps up Avitli the most recout advances in publie-lieallh work. The Board has determined which are tlie most dangerous diseases, and the order of their importance. When the State Board of Ilealtli has, after deliberate consid- eration, decided that a certain disease is dangerous to the public health, it has so declared it, and placed it on the "list" of '"diseases dangerous to the public health" in accordance with the State laws. Diseases which have been placed on the 'lisi" are: Measles, whooping-cough, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, small-pox and cholera, placed on the list in IST^i; diphtheria, in 1875; puerperal fever and erysipelas, in 1S7."S; typhus fever, in bSTK; rotheln (mainly because scarlet fever is so liable to be mistaken for rotheln), in 1886; membraneous or inflammatory croup and typho-malarial fever (because for practical purposes it must be considered as typhoid fever), in 1889; consumption, in 1893; yellow fever, glanders, rabies, tetanus, pneumonia, influenza and cerebro- spinal meningitis, in 1895. The above-mentioned dates do not indicate the times iliat active effort com- menced for the restriction and prevention of each disease; in some instances it commenced before and in other instances the effort commenced after the disease was formally declared to be a dangerous communicable disease. In the public-health laws, four expressions are used: "Sickness dangerous to the public health," "disease dangerous to the public health." "communicable disease dangerous to the public health," and "dangerous communicable diseases." Each of these expressions may represent a different classification of the diseases in accord- ance with the purposes of the various sections of State law. Michigan Plan for the Restriction of the Dange'-ous Diseases. Section 1675 and 1676 Howell's Statutes require each hou.seholder. hotel keeper, keeper of a boarding house or tenant, and physician to immediately give notice thereof to the health officer of the township, city or village, of any ease of small- pox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, or any other disease dangerous to the public health. Act 137, laws of 1883, requires the local health officers to keep the secretary of the State Board of Health constantly informed respecting every outbreak of a dangerous disease. The first report of an outbreak is sometimes made ]»y letter, by postal card, etc., but more frequently upon a special outbreak blank IL\ for reporting the first case. As soon as the first information reaches the ortio con- gratulated on the good judgment it displayed when it enacted a law which pro- vided for more perfect vital statistics by requiring their immediate return. The statistics are returned to and compiled by the office of the Secretary of State, and the prompt and accurate work of the local registrars is wortliy of high com- mendation; under the new law about 97 per cent of the population is represented by deaths returned, whereas under the old law only about GO per cent of the deaths were returned. A "Monthly Bulletin of Vital Statistics" is issued by the State Department at Lansing, and it is exceedingly valuable to the work of the State Board of Health. Life Saving in Michigan by Public=Health Work. The State Board of Health was organized as a health-preserving and life- saving institution, and its history exhibits its success in that benevolent work. The first address of the first president of the State Board, printed in the first (1873) annual report, teems with suggestions for life-saving work, which are al)out as applicable today as they were at that time. Interspersed tlu-ough th«> series of annual -eports, and especially those of recent years, will be found statistical studies of sickness prevented and of lives estimated to have been saved by public-health work. The data for these life-saving tables is taken from the actual experience of health officers in Michigan, and the estimates can be made with more or less accu- racy. In the report for 1897 Avill be found such a study tliat estimates that 149^296 cases of sickness and 7,121 deaths have been saved during the seven years 1890-96, from the four diseases diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid fever and measles, by complying with the recommendations of the Board. The recommendations of the Board are told in three words— isolation and disinfection— and are so easily applied that there should be no excuse for non-compliance with them. Reprints Nos. 472, 495 and 501, and another article being prepared for tli(^ twenty-fifth 24 A Quarter Century of Public-Health annual report, now being printed, relates to this branch of humanitarian work, and can be had on application to the office of the Board at Lansing. Money Value of Public=Health Work. The money values saved to the taxpayers in Michigan through the work of State and local health officials is enormous. As stated in the preceding head, during the seven years 1890-6, it is probable that there were saved 149,296 cases of sickness and 7,121 deaths from diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid fever and measles, four infectious and preventable diseases. In its annual report for 1897, the State Board estimates that the total money value saved the people of Michigan is $6,973,680 or a little less than one million dollars per year. In these estimates it is believed that each life saved represents at least $500— less than the price of a slave during war times; and each case of sickness avoided represents a saving of at least $40 for funeral expenses, and $20 for medical attendance, medicines, and other neces- saries consequent upon a case of sickness from a communicable disease. State Live Stock Sanitary Commission. Although as early as in 1869 the laws of Michigan empow^ered the Governor to appoint three cattle commissioners, the law was inactive until the State Board of Health saAv the need of a central board of commissioners who could supervise the interests of the health of the animals, restrict the spread of dangerous disease among animals, and prevent the spread of animals' diseases to man. Secretary Baker, with others interested in the subject, petitioned Governor Croswell, and the law w^as made operative by the appointment of three commissioners. This Commission held its first meeting with and in the office of Secretary Baker, and he advised with them regarding future action. However, there was no appropriation with which to work, and the first step was to secure more effective laws and an appropriation with which to carry out such laws. Act 182, laws of 1885, authorized the Governor to appoint three commissioners and a State Veterinarian to protect the health of the domestic animals of the State from all contagious diseases of a malignant character, and b^- so doing aid in protecting the lives of the citizens of Michigan. The members of that commission receive compensation and they can afford to give their attention to the work. While the State Live Stock Commission and the State Board of Health are entirely separate State organizations, they have worked together for the common cause of the protection of the public health, and great good has been done. Persons who discover or have reason to believe that any animal is affected with a contagious or infectious disease, are required to report such fact to the president of the State Live Stock Commission, who at present is the Hon. H. H. Hinds, Stanton, Michigan. However, reports of such outbreaks are frequently made by local health officers to the Secretary of the State Board of Health, and he imme- diately turns such report over to the State Live Stock Commission, and at the Work in Michigan, 1S73-1S98. ^ l»5 same time responds to the report ctilliug atteution to the law and requesting Uiat every precaution possible be taken to prevent tlie spread of ilie disease to other animals ©r to the human family. The State Live Stock Commission has issued a number of very valuable reports, especially one upon "(ilanders" by Prof. E. A. A. Grange, Y. S., who for a number of years efficiently served the State in the capacity of State Veterinarian. Animals' Diseases Dangerous to Man. Contagious and infectious diseases in animals seemed to be of so much im- portance in connection with public-health work, that Secretary Baker urged the State Board of Health to appoint a standing committee on diseases of animals in relation to public health. The committee was provided for, and Doctor Baker was made the Committee. Besides laboring for the organization of a State Live Stock Commission, other work has been done, papers have been written and reports made. The first report of the Committee was a paper by Doctor Baker on "Glanders in Man and in Domestic Animals" and will be found in the annual report of the Board for 1879. It is an exceedingly valuable report and has been widely distributed where it was thought it would do good. Another valuable paper on "Trichinae" by Dr. Arthur Hazlewood, was printed in the annual report for 1875, and was the starting point of considerable effort to educate the people of the State in the importance of thorough cooking of pork to be used for food. In the annual report for 1884 the Secretary reported a number of "Outbreaks of Trichi- niasis in Michigan." Besides these papers on glanders and trichiniasis, there will be found among the publications of the office and in the annual reports of the Board, papers, reports, etc., relative to tuberculosis in animals, lump-jaw. rabies, and other infectious diseases of animals that are dangerous to mankind. Michigan Plan for Sanitary Conventions. The credit for the suggestion for sanitary conventions is due to Doctor R. C. Kedzie. At the regular quarterly meeting of the State Board of Health. April 9, 1878, in his presidential address, he recommended the holding of sanitary conven- tions or meetings in various parts of the State, to consider and discuss su])j«M'ts relating to sanitation. A committee, consisting of Doctor Baker, Doctor I\«'dzic. Hon. LeRoy Parker, and Rev. D. C. Jacokes, was appointed to formulate a jilan for such meetings. The Committee recommended that they be held in a manner similar to the Farmers' Institutes conducted by the State Board of Agriculture; to be held by the State Board assisted by citizens in the locality decided upon. The first Convention was held at Detroit January 7 and 8, 1880, over 18 years ago. Since that time forty-five such Conventions have been successfully hrld in various parts of the State, and have done great good. The State Board has thus been able to place before the people by Avord of mouth the cogent truths concerning the modes by which the dangerous diseases are spread and how they are best 4 26 A QuAKTEii Century of Public-Health restricted, and other facts concerning the laws of sanitation and riglit living. This personal contact witli the people has enabled the Board to comply with' one of the requirements in the act establishing the Board —the dissemination of informa- tion. Before accepting an invitation to hold a Sanitary Convention, it is necessary for the Board to be assured that a sufficient number of representative citizens (doc- tors, lawyers, ministers, teachers, and others) will cooperate in making the Convention a success. If the invitation is accepted, a committee of the Board visits the locality, confers with a local committee of citizens, and arrangements are made. The expense of a hall for holding the meetings, local advertising, and a few other local expenses are required of the locality; the printing and dis- tributing announcements and programs, expenses of members of the State Board, and the expense of publishing the proceedings is borne by the State. During the last eighteen years the members of the Board have thus gratuitously served the State, when it has been a money loss to them, most generally meaning that each time a convention was held the work in their every-day avocation was discon- tinued for three days. Conferences of Health Officers in Michigan. Another similar way in which the Board has been able to disseminate information is by means of the "Conference of Health Officers." It was suggested that a meeting of health officers for the presentation of facts, and general comparison of views between local and State health officials, would enable the local and State officials to more Intelligently perform the duties required of them by law. It was deemed best that these Conferences should be held at the State Laboratory of Hygiene at Ann Arbor where, by actual and practical demonstrations, many of the subjects discussed could be more easily comprehended by all concerned. Three of these meetings have been held: the first was held June 15 and 16, 1893, for the express puiTpose of discussing "Asiatic Cholera and its Prevention," it being the time when this country was threatened with an invasion of that disease; the second June 14 and 15, 1894, to consider tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and small- pox, their restriction and prevention ; and the tMrd was held July 16 and 17, 1896, at which was considered summer diarrhoea in infancy, cheese and milk poisoning, diphtheria and its prevention by antitoxin and by isolation and disinfection, and bacteriological diagnoses of consumption, diphtheria and typhoid fever. In the invitations issued the State Board urged the local boards of health to send delegates, and the meetings were very instructive. The proceedings of the second and third conferences were published in pamphlet form, and are extremely interesting and valuable publications. Educational Campaign. One of the requirements in the act establishing the State Board of Health is that DANIEL COOK JACOKES, A. M., D. D. TT^EV. DOCTOR JACOKES Y^ was born April 13, 1813, at . -^ ^ Charleston, Montg-omerj^ county, New York, and died Jan- uary 10, 1894, at Pontiac, Michi- g-an, having- been a resident of Michig-an for sixty years. He was a Methodist Episcopal Clergy- man, received his degree of A. M. from the University of Middletown, Connecticut in 1871, and his D. D. degree from the Ohio Weslyan University at Dele- ware, Ohio. In 1875 Governor Bagley appointed him Commis- sioner to represent the Michig-an Educational Interests during the Centennial Exposition at Phila- delphia in 1876. May 21, 1877, Governor Croswell appointed him mem- ber of the State Board of Health, in which capacity he served the State for six years. In 1882 he was elected member of the American Public Health Association. For many years before his death he was Chaplain at the Eastern Michig-an As^'lum at Pontiac. As committee of the Board on "Buildings, public and private, including ventilation, heating, etc ," be was especially active, and in the annual report of the Board for 1879 will be found a report of his on "Methods of Heating and •Ventilating- private dwellings and public buildings already constructed.'' This paper was extremely valuable because it pointed out means by which ventilation could be secured in buildings already constructed. The demand for this paper was large, and the distribution extensive. 26 HON. LEROY PARKER, A. B. ON. IveROY PARKER was born in Flint, Michig-an, Dec. 15, 1844, and was a resident of- Michigan for fort}' years. He received his A. B. de- g-ree in 1865 at Hamilton CoUeg-e, Clinton, N. Y. During- the years 1874-86, being- twice elected, he represented the Second District of Genesse County in the Mich- igan Leg-islature. May 21, 1877. Governor Crosswell appointed him member of the State Board of Health, in which capacity he served the State for six 3'ears, being president of the Board dur- ing two years of his term. In 1885 he moved to Buffalo, N. Y., and began the practice of his profession; and, in 1887, with other law- yers of that city, organized the Buffalo Law School, with which insti- tution he has since been connected as professor of law, and vice- dean. He was awarded the $250 prize, given by the State Bar Asso- ciation of New York, for the best thesis on the subject of "Divorce laws and the desirability of uniform divorce legislation." Mr. Parker has devoted much time to the study of questions relating to the public health, and has written considerably on the subject, especially upon the legal relations of public health bodies and the powers and duties of health officials in general. In 1892 Mr. Parker, in collaboration with Mr. Robert H. Worthington of the New York City Bar, published a work entitled "The Law of Public Health and Safety,"' which is a very complete treatise, and is largely used by the legal pro- fession as well as by public-health officers throughout this country. Mr. Parker's legal ability made him a very useful member of the Board; he planned and advocated amendments to the laws relating to the public health, and did much in defining the duties of health officers and local boards of health in Michig-an. Work in Michigan, 1873-180S. 27 it shall collect and disseminate information. Pursuant to this requirement, it has from an earlj' date carried on a campaijjn of education, a dissemination of information, an education of the people. Tlie people have come to recognize tliat diphtheria and scarlet fever ai-e dangerous diseases and are to be avoided, and the credit for this enlightenment of the people is due to the persistent efforts of the State Board of Health. Pamphlets on each of the dangerous communicable diseases have been issued and distributed by the thousands, over 500 reprints have been made, and twenty-five annual reports have been issued, all for the education of the people. While the Board has published a large amount of literature, and while the people have come to know that diphtheria and scarlet fever are dangerous infectious diseases, some facetious individual has dubbed the office the State's literary Bureau. True it is a literary Bureau and one to which Michiganders can point with pride. Isolation Hospitals. The cottage system of hospitals for the isolation of cases of dangerous com- municable disease, is the plan that the ofRce of the State Board of Plealth has at various times recommended to localities where the construction of hospitals has been contemplated, especially in the larger cities of the State. There should be a place of refuge where the patient with a competent nurse or relative could be taken, receive the best of care and medical attendance, and where the chances of recovery would be multiplied. Then, again, it would do away with the difficulty experienced in endeavoring to isolate a case of dangerous disease in the home. There may be only the one case in the family, and the other members of the house- hold may haA^e been exposed to the contagion. If the patient were removed to a cot- tage hospital, the other members of the family were held under surveillance until after the period of incubation had passed, the clothing of such suspects and the house were thoroughly disinfected, isolation would be simple. The father and perhaps other bread-winners of that household would not need to be held In isola- tion for a great length of time. A recent plea for such hospitals is printed on page 204 of the annual report of the Board for 1894, This plea is only one among many similar ones that members of the Board have made during years past. » Educational Hospital or Home for Consumptives. Since Koch discovered the tubercle bacillus to be the specific cause of tubercu- losis, since it has been demonstrated that this microscopic organism is found in large numbers in the sputa of consumptives, and when we stop to tliink of the im- mense numbers of these germs that must be deposited daily in the streets, and in other public places, the restriction of the disease has become practicable. It has become more practicable because it has been demonstrnted whore and how this enemy of humanity is lurking. It is deposited by those suffering witli the disease, 28 A Quarter Century of Public-Health those Avho cougli aud expectorate where the sputa becomes dried and the germs of the great white plague float in the air, are taken into the lungs of some healthy individual, where they find a favorable soil and commence to reproduce their kind, causing sickness and sometimes death. While consumption is an extremely fatal disease, it is not attended with such great fatality as is commonly believed, it being known that about one-half of those who have at some time or other been infected with this dreaded disease, have recovered and finally died from other causes. It has been estimated that one out of every seven members of the human family die w^ith that insidious destroyer of mankind. It is known that there are annually in Michi- gan about three thousand deaths from this communicable and preventable disease, and it is also known that many of these lives could have been saved had they been surrounded with the proper sanitary environments. Had these unfortunates been under the management of some sanitary home or hospital, not only their lives might have been saved, but the lives of many innocent and healthy human beings would not have been sacrificed. There should be built in Michigan one or more hospitals or homes where this class of unfortunates could go and receive care, attention and education in accordance with the most recent and improved meth- ods. There are a few such institutions in this country, but comparatively many more in Europe; they are not asylums, prisons, nor penitentiaries; they are hospitals or homes, not only for the scientific care of consumptives, but are schools for the education of that class of individuals in the way by which the disease is spread and how it can be prevented. The State Board of Health has labored for such State home for consumptives. Secretary Baker first brought the subject to the attention of the Board at its meet- ing April 6, 1894, the proposition was well received, and the utility of such an insti- tution was readily recognized. The subject was referred to Professor Vaughan, who reported at the next meeting of the Board, when preambles and resolutions were adopted, briefly advancing the needs for, and value of, and asking that the legis- lature }nake a small appropriation for such a hospital. A bill was framed under the direction of the State Board, and was introduced in the house of representatives by the Hon. Byron S. Waite, aud in the senate by the Hon. O. A. Janes, but the bill was never reported from either of the committees to whom it was referred. A copy of the bill is printed on page xxix of the annual report for 1895. The educational campaign marches steadily on, and the time is not far distant when such a public sentiment will be arrayed as to demand the building of such a State Home for Consumptives. In the meantime let some one of our many benevo- lent and public-spirited millionaires bequeath a sum sufficient for the erection and equipment of such a Home that will send his name down to posterity, he will be known as a public benefactor, and the results of his act will be a monument greater than imagination can picture. Sanitary Science in the Schoofs. The educational campaign carried on by the State Board has reached mainly WoKK IN Michigan, 1873-1808. 29 the adult population, and with them has had telling effect. But, to the mind of the writer, the Board has never in all its existence taken up a work of such great import to the State— the future health and welfare of the present and coming gen- erations—as that provided for by the legislatures of 1805 and 1807, wliicli re- quires that there shall be taught in every public school in Michigan llie modes by which the dangerous communicable diseases are spread and the best meth- ods for their restriction and prevention. The great benelits that this new worlc will confer cannot now^ be estimated, because the work has practically only been commenced. It is difhcult to have such a system take immediate effect; it will necessarilj' go through a process of evolution; but, before many years have passed the results will have assumed proportions which will make them a liv- ing monument to a portion of the unselfish and gratuitous work of the Michigan State Board of Health. In order to comply with the statutory requirement, the Board has issued and widely distributed a leaflet [226] which, in a short and concise manner tells how the dangerous diseases are spread, and how they may be restricted and prevented. It is hoped that an important advance will be made w^hen the Board issues the more extensive teachers' manual, now in process of construction. The Board will in time be able to place in the hand of each teacher a complete plan by which that teacher can even more fully comply with the law; but, for the present, the teaching of the "data and statements" supplied in the leaflet [226] meets all the requirements. In time, sanitary science will be one of the prominent features in the curriculum of every school. There will be large wall charts or Avail studies, after the plan of the Yaggie anatomical chart or the Sundaj'-school catechism, in every school room, to be in plain view of every child and will serve as object lessons. Another advance might be in holding of teachers' sanitary institutes or inspiration meetings which will bring the teachers together to confer with each other and with mendjers of the State Board. These meetings might be wholly devoted to sanitary subjects, or might be a portion or section of the regular county institutes. However, these meetings should be for the teachers and by the teachers. They should be con- ducted by teachers, teachers should read the papers, the discussions should be by teachers; but the work might be under the auspices of the State Board, and a mem- ber of the State Board should be at each meeting to direct or observe its proceed- ings. While this personal word-of-mouth meeting with the teachers would be extremely valuable, there is issued monthly, by suggestion of the writer, a "Teach- ers' Sanitary Bulletin," after the plan of the Farmers' Bulletins, issued by the U. S. Government and by State Agricultural colleges; such bulletins serve to keep the teachers in constant touch with the State Board of Health and with recent sanitaiT progress. Such Bulletins are brief statements relative to the salient facts coneern- ing each of the dangerous diseases, and relating to other public-health subjects, and have been prepared by members of the Board, but may be by professors, super- intendents, teachers, and others willing to contribute manuscript. 30 A Quarter Century of Public-Health Alcohol and Narcotics. The effects of alcohol and narcotics upon the human organism, is a subject to which the State Board has given attention. While it still has a certain degree of importance, and even a relation to the work of the Board, its importance has not recently been considered by the Board to be of such magnitude as to warrant further special attention; the Board has apparently been of the opinion that there are other lines of public-health work in which it could labor to better advantage and with greater results; this feeling may have been due somewhat to the knowledge and belief that the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and other voluntary organizations, could well take care of that reform work. Earlier in the history of the Board, its members gave the subject much con- sideration. This subject was given considerable attention by Doctor Hitchcock,, the first president of the Board, in papers printed in the annual reports of the Board for 1874 and 1876. He proposed that the legislature should provide for a commission to thoroughly study and investigate the amount of sickness and deaths due to the habitual use of ardent spirits. Great numbers of Dr. Hitchcock's papers were reprinted and distributed by the Board. Doctor Plenry F. Lyster was also an active worker in this line. Probablj^ the most recent and valuable paper (Reprint No. 394) on this subject was written by Prof. Delos Fall, and read at the Lapeer Sanitary Convention, and reprinted and distributed in great numbers by the State Board. A few persons not members of the Board have prepared papers for the Board's Sanitary Conventions: Doctor A. F. Kinne — "The Sanitary Relations of a Single point in the New Physiology of Alcohol" (Reprint No. 85), and Doctor Henry M. Hurd— "The Hereditary Influence of Alcoholic Indulgence upon the Production of Insanity" (Reprint No. 201.) This last paper, also, was very widely distributed. There is no doubt that the several papers on these subjects have had a strong influence throughout Michigan. Coroners and Coroners' Inquests. , The question whether a person found dead came to his death from natural causes or unnatural causes, is one of importance; it is a question that ought to be settled in every case, if any human power can settle it. In Michigan this duty or decision is left to the Coroner's jury, a system which hias not proved satisfactory. The Board at one time undertook to secure improved laws relative to coroners and coroners' inquests. The subject came to the attention of the Board in a report by Hon. LeRoy Parker, delegate of the Board to the meeting of the Department of Health of the American Social Science Association at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., Sept. 1877, which report is printed on page 93 of the annual report of the Board for 1877. At this time Mr. Parker was the committee of the Board on public- health legislation, and he made vigorous effort to secure a change in the law. Of his investigations he made an extensive report (printed in the annual report for JOHN HARVEY KELLOGG, M. D. BOCTOR KELLOGG was born at Tyrone, Michig-an, February 26, 1852, and has been a resident of Michig-an since that time. He commenced his medical studies at the Michig"an University, and received his de- g-ree at Bellevue Hospital Medi- cal Colleg-e in March, 1875, hav- i n g- taken special instruction during" his medical course. For 22 years he has been Medical Superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, one of the larg-est of its kind in the world, and has been surg-eon to a number of other hospitals. He is a life member of the British Gyneco- log-ical Society, member of the French Society of Hygiene, founder and life member of the International Periodical Gvnecolog-ical Society, member American Medical Association, Miss. Valley Medical Assoc, the Michig-an State Medical Society, and many other State, National and International medical, public-health and scientific associations. He is a prolific writer on medical, sanitary and scientific subjects. He is editor of "Good Health" and "Modern Medicine," two monthly journals published at Battle Creek, Michig-an. May 2'), 187^, Governor Crosswell appointed him member of the State Board of Health, in which capacity he served the State for twelve years, having- been reappointed by Governor Alg-er in 1885. During- this long- term of service he wrote many papers and addresses that were published by the Board, on sub- jects relating- to "Domestic Sanitation," "Relation of Preventable Sickness to Taxation," "Sanitary Conditions of Public Buildings," etc. One of the most recent articles written by him for the Board was on "Practical Sug-g-estions respecting- the Ventilation of Building-s" and is printed in the annual report for 18*il. 30 EDWIN ATSON STRONG, A. B., A. M. f ROFESSOR STRONG was born January 3, 1834, in Otisco, Onondag-a, New York State, and has been a resi- dent of Michig-an since 1858. He receiv^ed bis deg^rees from Union Colleg-e in 1858 and in 1863 re- spectivel^^ He was Principal of the Grand Rapids High School for 14 years. Superintendent of the Grand Rapids Schools for 11 3'ears, professor of Natural Sci- ences at the New York State Normal School for 2 years, and is now and has been for 12 3'ears professor of Physical Science in the Michigan State Normal School. He has been president of the Kent Scientific Institute of Grand Rapids, of the museum of which he was for 18 years curator; of the Michigan Teachers' Associa- tion; of the Michig-an School Masters' Club; of the Michig-an Associa- tion of High School Principals; vice-president for three terms of the National Educational Association; has held official positions in the Sanitary Association of Grand Rapids; and was one of the American delegates to the London International Educational Conference of 1884. July 7, 1880, Governor Croswell appointed him member of the State Board of Health to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Doctor Hitchcock; and, in this capacity Professor Strong- served the State until the expiration of the term. He declined to be a candidate for reappoint- ment because the Grand Rapids School Board claimed his entire time. Work in Michigan, 1873-1898. 31 1878, pages 313-320); and be strongly recommended changes in the existing laws which, if adopted, would produce more perfect and desirable results in the holding of inquests upon dead bodies. His recommendations were: 1. The abolition of the office of coroner, and of coroners' juries. 2. The appointment or election of medical experts to make the physical exam- inations in cases of persons found dead or suddenly dying. 3. The holding of judicial investigations in cases where crime is suspected, by a magistrate or other than the person who makes the physical examination. Mr. Parker being a member of the legal fraternity could well see the necessity of the change, and worked vigorously to secure an amendment to the laws of Michigan, and it is to be regretted that the laws remain practically the same at the end of this quarter century of public-health work. Inspection of State Institutions and Public Buildings. This work probably started when Doctor Kedzie was invited to examine into the ventilation and sewerage of several State institutions. He found the conditions bad, and recommended ways in which improvement might be made. His report is printed in the annual report for 1874. Following Doctor Kedzie's work, special committees made similar investigations at county jails, county houses, poor houses, and other State institutions, and the reports of those committees will be found in the annual reports of the Board. At the meeting of the Board in April 1879, the Secretary presented a communica- tion he had received from Hon. C. D. Randall, of Coldwater, suggesting that legal provision be made which would require this Board to examine all plans and speci- fications for proposed State institutions, and in 1881, probably at the instance of Mr. Randall, the legislature passed Act 200, which has since been amended by Act 86 laws of 1889, and Act 58 laws of 1897. Before the board of control of any charitable, penal, educational or reformatory institution shall determine on the plans for any proposed building, or on any system of sewerage, ventilation or heat- ing, such plans shall be submitted to the State Board of Health for examination and opinion; and, when necessary the State Board shall visit such institution for the purpose of examination. Reports of examinations of plans and specifications, with the recommendations of the Board, will be found printed in nearly every annual report since 1881. The law does not require that the recommendations of the Board be adopted, and in a few instances the Board's advice has not been heeded, nnsatJsfactory systems have been constructed only to be reconstructed at considerable additional expense to the State. A special committee consisting of Doctor ^Nfilnor, Prof. Fnll niul Doctor Bnker are now preparing a statement of the best systems of house drainage, heating, and ventilating with a view of placing the report of the committee in the hands of and thus aiding the several superintendents and boards of control of these institutions 32 A Quarter Century of Public-Health to prepare plans Tvliicli shall be iu accordance with the best modern methods of sanitary construction. Advice Relative to Systems of Sewerage and Water Supply. During the existence of the Board, its officers and members Imve gratuitously advised with local authorities relative to proposed systems of vrater supply and sewerage, or changes in the existing systems, and in some Instances the advice has been acted upon and approved systems have been constructed. The holding of sani- tary conventions in various parts of the State has been the means of securing better systems of sewerage and water supply In many cities and villages in Michigan. At these conventions papers have been read and the subjects have been discussed from various standpoints. The proceedings of such conventions have been printed in pamphlet form, and widely distributed. In July, 1897, the subject of sewage filtration and sewage disposal laws, and the protection of the purity of the inland waters of the State, was presented by Secre- tary Baker, and the subject was referred to the committees of the Board on '•Water Supply" and "Sewerage"', Prof. Fall and Prof. Novy respectively. This joint committee is making a thorough investigation of the subject, and its report soon to be made will be a valuable contribution to popular information on this branch of sanitary knowledge— of Avhat has been done in Massachusetts and else- where, and the need for immediate legislative action in Michigan. President Frank Wells in his address to the Board in April, 1898, dwelt exten- sively upon the contamination of St. Clair river by typhoid discharges, in connection with the recent outbreak of typhoid fever at St. Clair city. He thought that such contamination might endanger the water supplies of the cities and villages situated along that water course, and suggested that the Board undertake a systematic bac- teriological investigation which would determine just how far that contamination was carried, and whether it entered the water supply for Detroit. The importance of such knowledge in protecting the life and health of the inhabitants of the towns and cities in that portion of the State seemed to be great, and the Board authorized the investigation. Bearing upon the question whether typhoid fever germs can be carried many miles in running water, a valuable paper (Reprint No. 517) by Gardner S. Williams, C. E., Detroit, has been published by the Board. The paper seems to contain proof that the typhoid germs were carried from Port Huron through many miles of running water into the water supply of Detroit, causing outbreaks of typhoid fever. In .January. 1898, the Board adopted general resolutions recommending that local boards of health frame and publish rules and regulations which shall forbid the construction of cess-pools for the storage of sewage or for use as privy vaults. It has come to the attention of the Board that its advice has been heeded in a number of localities. HON. JOHN AVERY, M. D. ^ per Mines of Lake Superior; and in 1883 removed to Pontiac, Michigan, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. Doctor Gray is a member of the Michigan State Medical Society, Amer- ican Medical Association, and American Public Health Association; and since 1892 he has been a member of the Pontiac school board, of which he is now president. Doctor Gray has been prominent in local politics, having- been mayor of Pontiac, during which time he pointed out the need for a g-ood, general water-supply with which Pon- tiac is now blessed; he has also served as health officer during two terms. In June, 1891, Governor Winans saw tit to appoint Doctor (;ray member of the State Board of Health, in which capacity he served for six years. During the time he was member of the State lioard he was extremely attentive and active, attending and taking part in the sani- tary conventions held by the Board in various i)arts of Michigan, attending- meetings, work in standing committees, and other work connected with the public-health service. 3o HON. FRANK WELLS R. WELLS was born in the State of New York, came with his parents to Ohio in early youth where he at- tended the Huron Institute at Milan, a college preparatory school; from thence he came to Michigan and settled in Howell, where he was engaged in the mer- cantile business for ten years. In 1861 he moved to Lansing where he has since resided. Here for many years he w^as engaged in the drug business. During the last ten years his interests have ex- tended, and various mercantile pursuits have claimed his atten- tion. He has occupied his leisure time largely in literary work. He has been a member of the U. and I. Club of Lansing, one of the most prominent literary organizations in central Michigan, and served that Club ten successive years as its pre- siding officer. Mr. Wells has been president of the Michigan Business Men's Association, was the first president of the State Pharmaceutical Association, and has been identified with various public organizations. His reading and studies have been largely in the direction of scientific research and investigation, and he is the author of several papers relat- ing to this class of knowledge. Among these is one on the Germ Theory of Disease, written at a time when micro-organisms as a cause of disease was still a theory only with many. This address was pub- lished by the State Board of Health, and has had a wide circulation. It was this work doubtless, together with the interest taken by Mr. Wells in public health work, that induced Governor Winans to appoint him, on January 29, 1891, to serv^e as a member of the Board. Mr. Wells was reappointed by Governor Pingree in May, 1897. He has been pre- siding ofticer of the Board since 1893. Work in Michigan, 1873-1898. 31 t the larger pamphlet relative to small-pox, aud has been sent out from the otliee together with a two-pag'e leaflet (No. IGT) a copy of one edition ni" w hich is print«'il on page 209 of the annual report for 1892. Michigan Inspection of Immigrants. Because of Michigan's geographical position and a large part of ilie houndary line being the botmdary line between the U. S. and a foreign country, because of the im- mense numbers of immigrants that annually enters the U. S. by way of Port Huron, Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie, and because of the fact that a number of out- breaks of dangerous disease had originated from sick or infected immigrants, in ISSl the State Board of Health adopted resolutions memorializing the National Board of Health to establish a sjstem of inspection along the Michigan-Canadian border. According to the statistics of the U. S. Treasury Department, more immigrants enter the U. S. via Port Huron, than any other port of entry in the country except the port of New York. The petition of the Board was effective and secured the proposed system of inspection which began June 1. 1882. The inspc*-- tion continued at Detroit until Dec. lo, 1882. and at Port Huron until May :;i. 1883. An account of the inspection Mill be found printed in tlie annual reports of the Board for 1882 and 1883. Act 230, laws of 1885, "An Act to provide for the prevention of the introductii»n and spread of cholera and other dangerous communicable diseases," took effect in due course of time, and rules for a State inspection were framed and publisln-d. A copy of the law and an account of the Inspection in Michigan in 1885 will lie found in the annual report for 1885. After the downfall of the National Board of Health, the governmental inspection of immigrants and travelers was placed under the supervision and control of the U. S. Marine Hospital Service; and inspectors were stationed at Detroit. Port Httron and Sault Ste. Marie, and continued with more or less efficiency. During the fall and winter of 1891-92 small-pox was wide spread in Canada, and the disease had been brought to this country by infected travelers. The Board had secured from the U. S. Government additional inspectors at Detroit and Port Huron who acted under the direction of the Board, but Jan. 10. 1892. these inspectors were discontinued. Cholera was rife in European countries and there seemed to be great danger to Michigan and the Northwest. The Government was tirged for a more vigorous inspection of immigrants and travelers and disinfection of baggage. Not knowing just what the U. S. Government was doing to prevent the invasion, of dangerous diseases, a committee of the National Conference of State Boards, of Health made a tour of inspection of Canadian and Atlantic Quarantine stations, and the finding was not satisfactory, and Doctor Baker being a member of that committee reported to the Board that he believed that more active effort should be made to protect Michigan and States further west from the introduction and spread' of small-pox. cholera, and other diseases dangerous to the public health. T'liirago 38 A Quarter Century of Public-Health was preparing- for the World's Columbian Exposition, and it was especially important that no dangerous disease gain a foot-liold in tliat city just prior to the opening of the great fair. While Secretary Baker was yet away on the inspection tour, l)ut in consequence of his reports, the State Board of Health lield a special meeting, Sept. 6, 1892, and published a quarantine proclamation which started probably the most complete system of inspection of immigrants and travelers that any State has ever main- tained. Efficient rules were framed and published under Act 230, Laws of 1SS5. and later were republished under the same act as amended by Act 47, laws of 1893. However, the Board met with obstacles, the authority of the Board was denied, and their rules violated by one railroad operating in Michigan. Arrests were made of those violating the Board's rules, litigation commenced, and was carried from one court to another and finally a decision of the Supreme Court of Michigan decided that the act under which the rules were framed Avas constitutional, but that such rules as the State Board believed to be necessary in order to be of use were not constitutional. Therefore the Board abandoned every attempt to carry on border inspection until the law siiall have been amended. During this recent quarantine inspection system, the Board appointed a special committee consisting of President Wells and Secretary Baker to direct the operations of the inspection service. This Committee's work was extremely satisfactory, the work in connection therewith was expedited, and tliere was no great expense of frequently calling the Board in special meeting to consider questions v^hicli could be settled by the Committee resid- ing in the Capitol City. Michigan's experience in the inspection of immigrants and travelers is an inter- esting chapter in tlie history of the Board's work. A history of the most recent system will be foiTud in the annual repoi'ts of the Board for 1892 to 1895 inclusive. Notices of Possibly=Infected Immigrants Destined to Michigan. Inimigrants who liad passed "quarantine" at some of the eastt rn i)()rts of entry, liad come to Michigan and spread dangerous diseases. This led the Secretary to reJiuest that notice of the destination of such immigrants be given in time that the Central office could pass the information along to the health officer of the town- ship, city or village to which the immigrant was destined in order that the possibly infected individual could be kept under surveillance and promptly isolated in case he developed symptoms of a dangerous disease. Such notices have been regularly received from the superintendents of immigration at the various eastern ports of entry, and the system has undoubtedly done much to lessen the number of cases of diplitlieria. sr-arlet fever, etc.. in [Michigan. lnter=State Notification of Dangerous Communicable Diseases. At the meeting of the National Conference of State and I»rovincial Boards of Health, at Toronto. October. 1880, preamlile and resolutions were adopted, and at SAMUEL GEORGE MILNER. A. B., A. M., M. 1). © OCTOR MILNER was born May IS, 1846, in Salineville, Ohio, but has been a resi- dent of Michig-an for the past twenty-six years. At the Mich- ig-an Univ^ersit}' he received the deg-rees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in 1872 and 1876 respectively; and, from the Hom- eopathic Medical Colleg^e of the Michig-an University he received the deg-ree of Doctor of Medicine in 1887, since which time he has been an active practitioner in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Doc- tor Milner has been a member of State and National Medical Soci- eties, and is member of the staff of the Union Benevolent Association Hospital of Clrand Kapids. He is president of the Grand Rapids Colleg^e of Homeopathic Physicians and Surg-eons. In 1895 he received the appointment of a professorship in the Homeopathic Medical Colleg-e of the Michig-an I'niversit}'. but declined to accept. During- the years 1872-1885 he was prominently identified with the educational forces of the State, being- principal of the Union School at Grand Rapids. By Governor John T. Rich, he was appointed member of the Michig-an State Board of Health, May 27, 18**3, in which capacity he has since served. As committee of the Board on " Building-s, including- house drainage, ventilation, heating, etc.," and on "School hygiene and sanitation," he has done considerable labor, and is now eng-ag-ed in preparing- a report relative to better sanitary conditions at the public school, building-s, g-rounds, etc. In the pam- phlet proceeding-s of the Detroit sanitary convention will be found a paper by Doctor Milner on "A Study of Diphtheria and Scarlet Fever, from the Standpoint of the State Board of Health." 33 HON. QEORGE H. GRANGER, M. D. © OCTOR GRANGER was born in Wayland, New York, January 17, 1841. He received his early education at the Danville Seminary and at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Livonia, N. Y. He studied medi- cine at Wayland, N. Y., but when the war of the rebellion broke out he volunteered in a New York reg-iment as assistant surg-eon. In 1866 he moved to Michigan where he entered the Michig-an University and g^raduated from the Medical Department in 1867 and commenced the practice of his profession at Unionville, Tus- cola county. During- the years 1879-81-82 he represented Tuscola county in the Michig-an legislature, and in 1880 he served the villag-e of Unionville as its president. In 1888 he moved to Ba}^ City where he has since continued in the practice of medicine. For a number of years he was a member of the Bay City board of education, and was president of that board during- 1887, 1888 and 1890. Doctor Grang-er being a man of prominence in public affairs, and being- a representative medical practitioner in that section of the State, Governor Rich appointed him member of the State Board of Health, in which office he served the State four years, resig-ning- because of the impaired condition of his health. It is g-ratifying- to state that Doctor Grang-er has reg-ained his health and is ag-ain actively eng-ag-ed in the practice of medicine. Doctor Nov^y was appointed by Governor Pingree to fill the vacancy caused by the resig-nation of Doctor Grang-er. Work in Michigan, 1873-1:^U:s. 39 the Wasliiugtou meeting of the Confereuee in Sei)t., ISST. ilit resoliiiinns wtw \v- atHrmod. The agreement was to keep eacli State ami Tiov iiicial Hoard of Ilealili constantly informed concerning outbrealcs of dangerous coninumirMMr dlsea>es, with a view to conveying reliable otlicial information rrhnivc in ili.- dangi-r of the spreading of such diseases. A copj' of this agreemeni is primed in tin- amiual report of the Board for 1SS7. Accordingly, when an outbreak of small-pox has occurred in Micliigan. the I'acl.s relative to the first case have been immediately sent to tlie Secretary of eai*h State and Provincial Board of Health. Relative to diplitlieria, scarlet fever, etc. ih«* Board has given the information by means of regular weekly, montlily and ipiar- terly bulletins which show the condition of sickness in Michigan, and .-it inst w Mici(»ber, 188(3. did the State Board of Health take action which resulted in the establishment of the first State Laboratory of Hygiene in tlie World. At that nuH'ting of the Board the following resolution was adopted:— While Secretary Baker was yet away on the inspection tour, Itut in cunsethat its clothing is free from disease producing germs as to see that the child has had a bath, has on a nice new suit of clothes, clean waist, etc. Such n rniil on the germ causes of disease cannot fail to lessen disease and death. Sanitary Day. At the meeting of the Board in July, 1892, Doctor Baker proposed a "Sanitary Day."' a day which should be provided for by law after the plan of the annual school meeting. It was proposed that such a day would be a time set aside by law when there should be an annual public sanitary meeting in every township, city and vil- lage, when the citizens should decide just how much money should be assessed an. The report did not recommend that the observations should be made, but did point out methods and apparatus needed for the proposed observations. 42 A Quarter Century of Public-Health Regulation of the Practice of Medicine. That the charhitau and iuipostor are iiurestraiued in the practice of medicine in Michigan cannot be denied; they are conspicuous hy their presence. They are a source of danger to the very life and health of every man, woman and child in the State; and, although it is true, it is to be regretted that our great and glorious State is fnr in the rear in connection with the regulation of the practice of medi- cine; it is classed with those States and Territories a hundred years behind Michi- gan in degree of civilization. For over a quarter of a century effort has been made to secure some legislation that would save Michigan from being the dumping ground for the worse than refuse that would have the audacity to class themselves as doc- tors; a class of individuals often not possessed of even a common school education who, by the payment of a small amount of money to some bogus doctor factory are granted a diploma, come into Michigan and practice their imposition 'upon our citi- zens with perfect impunity. Such impostors in a similar walk of life, would be placed where thej would do no harm. It can be truly said that Michigan is today withont the slightest protection from the so-called doctors; the present law which relates to that subject, unless it can be amended, might just as well be wiped off the Statute books. But what is the reason for this unprotected condition V There are two: (1) The legislators and (2) the physicians. Why are the legislators to be censured? Because they do not take the subject in hand from a humanitarian standpoint and pass a law which shall protect the people. "Why are the physicians to be censured? Because they are not united on any one plan. If they have united, a bill has been framed, committees have been appointed from the various societies to place the subject before the legislature, before action can be taken by the legislatiA'e body, the doctors are fighting among themselves. The honorable physicians should get together, agree upon some possible legislation on this suliject. unite and stand united, until the bottle is won. It is hoped that another quarter century will not pass without some change in our present law. Let a law pass which shall define or appoint a State Board to decide what are reputable and legally-authorized medical colleges and a good work will have been done. It is not well to try to regulate the past, but endeaA'or to regulate the future. It is not wise to try to pass a law which shall dictate to the Governor just whom he shall appoint; this should be left to his good judge- ment; no Governor can make the conditions worse than they are at the present Hme. In this work the State Board of Health has wrought assiduously and nobly and it cannot be said with any selfish interest; its interest has been for tlie public- health and welfare. It is hoped that some day its influence may so accumulate rliat a proper law can be enacted. Legislative Investigations. It would be strange if a State Institution that had been in existence for so many FREDERICK GEORGE NOW, Sc. 0., M. D. TTXOCTOR FREDERICK G. lUl NOVY was born in Chi- -L^ cag^o, Dec. 9, 1864, and has been a resident of Michig-an for the past sixteen 3'ears. He re- ceived his deg"rees at the Mich- ig^an Universit}' at Ann Arbor with which institution he has been connected as 11 teacher for twelve years, serving" as assistant in Org-anic Chemistry, instructor and later as assistant professor of H^'g^iene and Ph3'siolog'ical Chem- istr}', and recently as Junior pro- fessor of H3'g*iene and Ph^'siolog'- ical Chemistr}\ He is a member of the Michig-an State Medical Society, Pan-American Medical Congress, International Medical Congress, International Congress of H3'g-iene and Demog^raphy. He was appointed member of the State Board of Health bv Governor Ping-ree September 17, 1SM7, to fill the vacancy caused b3' the resig^nation of Doctor Georg^e H. Granger. Prot. Novy is author of "Cocaine and its Derivatives," 1887, "Directions for Laboratory Work in Bacteriology," " Laboratory Work in Physiological Chemistry," and, conjointly with Prof. Vaughan, is author of several editions of " Ptomains and Leucomains." He spent the summer of 1888 in the laboratory of Doctor Koch in Berlin; that of 18')4 at Prague; and during the summer of 1897 he studied in the Pasteur Institute at Paris. Considering Doctor Novy's training in scientific work and as assistant director of the State Laboratory of Hygiene his appointment as member of the State Board was a very wise selection by CHivornor Pino-ree. Even before he became a member of the Board, he wrote numerous papers relating to germ life and other phases of public-health work. Recently he has reported to the Board the results of actual laboratory experiments tending to establish the efficiency of formal- dehyde for the disinfection of rooms. 42 HENRY BROOKS BAKER, A. M., M. D. E) OCTOR BAKER was born December 29, 1837, in Brat- tleboro, Vt., and, except- ing- three years during* the war, less than a year just preceding- the war and less than a year in New York just after. the war, has resided in Michig-an since 1849. When the war beg-an he was teach- ing- school in southern Illinois. In the winter of 1861-2, having- studied medicine, he attended lectures in the Department of Medicine and Surg-ery at the Michig-an University. In Aug-ust, 1862, he enlisted in the army, and soon afterwards was appointed Hospital Steward, of the 20th Michig-an Infantry Volunteers; in 1863-4 he acted as Assistant Surg-eon; July, 1864, was mustered as such, and from that time until the close of the war he was the medical officer in charg-e of the reg-i- ment. After the war he continued his studies at Bellevue Hospital Med- ical College, and g-raduated therefrom in the spring- of 1866; practiced medicine at Lansing- and at Wenona, Michig-an, until October, 1870, when, as a committee from the State Medical Society, he went to Lan- sing to compile the State Vital Statistics. July, 1873, on the day of its org-anization, he was elected Secretary of the Michig-an State Board of Health, in which capacity he has since served. From the University of Michig-an in 1890 he received his A. M. degree. He is a member of many State, National and International medical and public-health associations; in June, 1884, was made corresponding- member and later Honorary Member of the French Society of Hyg-iene; and, in 1890, was president of the American Public Health Association. Doctor Baker has written many papers and public addresses on public health subjects. Among- the papers arc several on the causation of diseases — influenza, pneumonia, and typhoid fever. Work in Michigan, 18T:J-181)8. \:\ years could have always 'vsmootlied the fur the ri,«,-ht way", aiil c c c. t Work in Michigan, 1873-1898. 4:. paratiou of papers for sanitary conventions, special papers and lectures, etc. The library has been a sort of "traveling" one; for, when requested, the Secretary has loaned portions relating to certain subjects to those persons preparing papers for sanitary conventions and other occasions. What has made the library especially useful is an extensive card-catalogue which has been in process of construction for a nnmber of years. It is hoped that some day this card-catalogue can be printed in pamphlet form, and the pamphlets placed where the usefulness of the library can be extended. An alphabetical index of the subjects and authors of the publications of the Board during its twenty -five years' existence has been prepared by Mr. Thos. 8. Ainge, and is printed in pamphlet form (Reprint No. 522). State Board of Health Exhibit at World's Fair and Tennessee Centennial. The Board!3 exhibit at the World's Fair was installed in the Anthropological Building, and consisted of a set of the annual reports and other publications of the Board, two large wall diagrams, one of which showed the lives saved from public health work in Michigan, and the other showing the results of isolation and disin- fection in the restriction of the two dangerous diseases— diphtheria and scarlet fever. There was also a wing frame upon a standard that contained twenty dia- grams, most of the diagrams exhibiting the relations of disease to meteorological conditions. All the diagrams were photo-engraved, plates made (reduced in size) and printed in a twenty-four page leatlet. This leaflet was distributed in connec- tion with the same exhibit. A statement of the exhibit is made in the annual report for 1894. About the same articles were exhibited at the Tennessee Centennial at Nashville in 1897, and a leaflet similar to that reproduced in the 1894 report was placed with tlie exhibit for distribution to those who wished the pamphlet. What Outsiders Think of the Work of the Board. The knowledge of what has been done in Michigan in i>ul)lic-health work is not confined to the State alone, nor to the western hemisphere. V>ut many congratulatory and commendatory expressions of the worth of the work come to the notice of the Board, ^^ome even from the remotest portions of the world, and the jirineiples and methods used in Michigan have been widely copied. For its exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1S9.3, the Boanl was awarded a diploma and medal which were given "for completeness, exactness and statistical value". An award was also given for the exhibit sent to the Tt-n- uessee Centennial in 1897. At the International Health Exhibition in L()ndon in 1SS4 the Board was repre- sented by an exhibition of some of its work and the "eertiticate of thanks" awarded was such a piece of artistic beauty that it is thought well worthy of i