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
Licence: Public Domain Mark
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.
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![5S The Occasional Necessity for the Destruction of infected Houses. The Dangers arising from the Use of a Polluted Water-suppl)^ The Importance of Washing the Hands before Eating, and of scrupul- ous Cleanliness in the Preparation of Food, of Cooking Utensils and of Articles of Table Furniture. The Unwholesome Character of Meat which has been bruised or crushed during Life. . The Dangerous Deterioration of Yeast in hot Climates. The Cremation of Olfal and Garbage. The Purification of the Atmosphere by burning Aromatics. The Cultivation of a high Standard of Morality essential to the Main- tenance of Public Health. The Importance of Personal Cleanliness and frequent Ablutions. The Sanitary Relations of the Sexes. The Dry-Earth Treatment of Human Excreta. No better evidence could be desired as regards the value of Sanitary Conventions than the results' Avhich followed this memorable gathering. Its proceedings, formulated into a Code, were preserved with the greatest care, a night and a day watch being kept over them, and the entire people were constantly instructed as to their contents. As a result of strict adherence to these sanitary laws a race of the greatest vigor was developed. Prosperous in peace, invincible in war, they were the terror of their enemies and the envy of all surrounding nations. At length, however, they grew lax in the observance of hygienic requirements. Disease, luxury and licentiousness sapped their strength, and they be- came the prey of those over whom they had formerly triumphed. Finally, a condition was reached of the most absolute degradation, in which the very existence of a written Code seems to have been forgotten. At this time, about eight hundred years after the Convention referred to, a second Convention was called. The occasion of this assemblage was the somewhat remarkable dis- covery, after so great an elapse of time, of the original Code, hidden away under rubbish in the ruins of an old temple. The King then on the throne, profoundly impressed with the importance of this discovery, immediately ordered a convocation for the purpose of again making the j)eople familiar with the requirements of the Code. This meeting was held in the month of !March in the year before Christ G23. Like the for- mer it was attended by immense throngs, men, women and children, and lasted over a period of several days. With the return of a better and simpler mode of living, and the strict observance of the precautions of the Code, prosperity again returned to the race, and for centuries again they acquired a wonderful preeminence. History is dumb as to any future assemblages of this kind until we eome down to the present century, daring which, from time to time, those who were intrusted with the management of seaboard quarantines, met together in Europe to discuss topics more especially connected with the ]>erformance of their own specific duties. These, however, could scarcely be called State Sanitary Conventions. The last war in which our country was engaged was the starting point of many new movements in this country of a most beneficent character, and among those we are probably safe in classing State Sanitary Con- ventions. Out of the furnace of that war came a second Moses. Like the first, educated not only in the sciences, but having had also the train-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22335213_0057.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
