THE PREVENTION OF TUBERCULOSIS.*
D. Newsmorate has done a great service to the nation. His hook should be read, and read carefully, by every man in a P°eition of responsibility, however great or however limited that responsibility may be. The reader will be impressed by two nlaifl facts c the first, that the anther writes with alseoltite command of his subject ; the second, that that subject is ono of supreme importance. It will be realised that tuber- culosis causes sixty thousand deaths per annum in England and Wales alone ; that these deaths occur for the most part during the wage-earning or working period of life; that the disease is to a very limited extent curable; but that the one and only means of stamping it out is prevention. Dr. Newsholme, with infinite pains, and after many years of devoted work, has shaped his scheme of prevention and laid it before the public in these pages. The natural history of the dmease is complicated ; there are many bypaths off the main l'ca.a of danger, and to carry out effectually anything like a Inoversal scheme of prevention means a vast expenditure not n"ee esseeeice of Tuberculosis. By Arthur Nowoholmo. London t Methuen DN.ttii. nk.]
only of individual effort but of money. Hitherto, penrhaps, there may have been some excuse for the apparent apathy of the general public hi regard to this question. They may plead that they knew not how to combat tuberoulosis ; that they looked upon it as an inevitable scourge to be endured with the courage of despair, and with the hope that perchance they themselves might individually escape its terrors.
This is so no longer: the way is pointed clearly and forcibly by Dr. Newsholme: there can be no doubt whatever that if the nation chooses, tuberculosis, like rabies, can be swept away. It is true that the notification to the authorities of each case, the segregation of all those suffering from Con- sumption, the sacrifice of infected cattle, the systematic treatment of all milk, and like necessary measures, involve great sacrifices on the part of individuals for the good of the community. The difficulties will be great; for it is also true that the publio as a rule refuse to take advice which is unasked, although they are ready enough to ask, nay, demand, it on occasion. Suppose, for 'instance, that some buch disease as Asiatic cholera were again to sweep down upon us and cause sixty thousand deaths in a year ; the public, full of alarm and auger, would cry out for help and advice, and bitterly reproach the authorities in every newspaper for having failed to prevent the incidence, of so fatal a plague upon a hapless people. Thousands of workers and many thousande of pounds would be forthcoming whenever they were wanted if only by such means could the plague be stayed.
Hero, on the other hand, is a disease to which we have been long accustomed, but which takes an equally heavy toll of valuable lives, a disease the cause of which has been accurately determined, and the prevention of which is certain If only the necessary work can be accomplished, and yet the public, with a few exceptions here and there, remain strangely apathetic.
It is therefore of prime importance that every man of Influence should make himself familiar with this admirable
book, so that he may do his share in moulding public opiniOn and guiding it into the right path. It is only so that Dr. Newsholmes ideal can be realised.
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