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LITTLE MASTERPIECES OF SCIENCE
HEALTH AND HEALING
Little Masterpieces
of Science
Edited by George Iles
HEALTH AND HEALING
By
NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1902
Louis Pasteur.Copyright, 1894, by Harper & Brothers
Copyright, 1901, by Popular Science Monthly
Copyright, 1900, by D. C. Heath & Co.
Copyright, 1901, by Evening Post Publishing Co.
Copyright, 1901, by G. P. Putnam's Sons
PREFACE
When we remember that sound health is the foundation of every othergood, of all work fruitful and enjoyed, we see that in this field newknowledge and new skill have won their most telling victories. Pain,long deemed as inevitable as winter's cold, has vanished at thechemist's bidding: the study of minutest life is resulting in measureswhich promise to rid the world of consumption itself. Dr. Billings'smasterly review of medical progress during the nineteenth century,following upon chapters from other medical writers of the first rank,strikes Prevention as its dominant note. To-day the aim of the greatphysicians is not simply to restore health when lost, but themaintenance of health while still unimpaired.
Worthy of remark is the co-operation in this good task which thephysician receives at the hands of the inventor and the man of business.To-day the railroad, quick and cheap, disperses crowded cities intocountry fields: even the poorest of the poor may take a summer outing onmountain slopes, on the shores of lake or sea. As easily may the invalidescape the rigors of a Northern winter as he journeys to the Gulf ofMexico. For those who stay at home the railroad is just as faithfully atwork. It exchanges the oranges of Florida for the ice of Maine, andbrings figs and peaches from California to New England and New York.These, together with the cold storage warehouse and the cannery, havegiven the orchard and the kitchen garden all seasons for their own. Normust we forget the mills that offer a dozen palatable cereals for thebreakfast table, most of the drudgery of preparation shifted from thekitchen to the factory. Because food is thus various and wholesome asnever before, the health and strength of the people steadily gains,while medicine falls into less and less request; for what is medicinethree times in ten but a correct