Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898.

Michigan. State Board of Health

Date:: 1898

Credit: Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

52/102 page 50

$QUARTER-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION is to be hikcii iis the lii;;i„.si pr,,(,f „f Hk* odvanccMl (‘ducatioii of tlie pcoplo (d .Michijran in sanitary sci('nco. 1 In* motto ol your Board is ('vidcntly “Bxodsior”; for not content with what it has acliieved. it has recently taken a stej), in advance of all other State Boards, in tin* dissemination of practical knowledge relating to health, by l)ej,niminj; instruction, wln-re all rudimentarv instruction should be*i:in. with the children. Vour le},dslatnre, instifratcd by your Stat(‘ Board, ami (piite assui(*d that it is not pia'cedinj;, bv anv dan^^er- ous distance, the s(mtiim‘nts of 1h(> voters, has (*nact(‘d'a law, “That there shall b(* taught in every year in evei-y public school in .Michi}ran, the princi])al modes by which each of tin* dangerous communicable dis- eas(*s is sjn-ead, and tlie best methods for the resti-iction and juan'ention of each .such disea.se.” (Act Xo. 14(i, laiws of 1S!)5.) It is a master stroke o| policy. The children of today, will direct tin* sanitary administi-ation (d Michij^an twenty years henc(', on the principh*s tauj^ht them now. Sutiitu! j! ( oiin'iiti(fiis. \ our State Boai'd lias ever kejd promimMitlv in Aiew (he (luty imposed upon it, “to disscmiinate amoii}; the pi'ojile, all nsi'ful inlormation on tin* subject (d' hyj;i(m(*.” Xo moia* practical and ell'ectivi* method has ever b(*en devi.si^d, than the holdinj; <d’ local sani- tary conventions in tin* smaller towns in vai’ious ]iarts <d the State; a nu'thod which ori/^inat(*d with yonr Board and has b(*(*n sncc(*ssfullA' cai*- ried on for nearly twenty years. It has lon^ been known that tract's and bibles without (he jiresence and jiersonal <*lforts of missionaries, Avould nev«*r convert the heathen. lb*nce the wisdom of these missionaiw con- ventions. ()f tln*ir utility as a means of din’nsinj; a knowledp* of tin* laws of health; of Iln*ir power in stimulatin'; an inten*st in (he princi|)h*s of sanitary sci(*nc(*; and of Iln*ir aj;(*ncy in <*nlistinj; in*w r<*crnits in the army of workers, and of tin* nractical local reforms and improv(*ments Avhich hav(* been su^^est(*d and acomidisIn*d thi-oneli them, it is unin*c(*s- sary for me to dwell. Von an* aln*ady familial* with tln*se results. 1 ]iass to another subject— STATE LAIIOHATOHY OF IIVOIKXF. 1 have* said Sanitary Science is ]iroc:r(*ssiv(*. So also is the work of a State Board (d ll(*alth. It Avas simply the result of natural <;rowth that Avhen it had reached a c(*rtain statCf* in its d(*A’elopment, it should f(*(*l the in*(*d of and jirovide for a Laboratory of Practical Ilyj;i(*n(*. Tin* time always conn*s to ev(*ry w(*ll-or};anized and a<*tive State Boaid, Avhen an institution of that kind is an indispensibh* in*cessity to its highest ns(*fnlness. X(> b(*tt(*r evidence of this can In* olTered than the v( ry valuabh* work Avhich has be<m done by your oavu Laboratoi*y. Its <letection of frauds in nn*diciin*; its discovi*ry of poisonous ptomaines in common articles of food; its examinations of water su])plies; its investi- frations into tin* sourc(*s of e]»idemics; its bacteriolojrical Avork, and. in many Avays beside tln*.se, it has ]>r(»V(*d its abonndinj; us(*fulness as an essential adjunct to the outfit of a Avell-('(pii])i)ed Avorkiuf; State lioard of Health. It is not only dir(*ctly valuable in afTordinj; tin* nn*ans of solv- int; the hundred and one ])roblems that from time to time ])i*esent them- selves. but it is indirectly of };reat educational influence by illustrating in a v(*ry ]»ractical Avay. Iioav clos(*ly the liv(*s and tin* ln*alth of the peojile an* conin*cted Avith purely scientific investijtations.$