. Biology; the story of living things. MAN'S FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL 629 patient in vaccination, and almost certain immunity against small- pox is conferred. Nevertheless, smallpox is still with us. Frequent outbreaks still occur and it is much to our shame that the United States has one fifth of all the smallpox in the civilized world. Dur- ing the years 1921-1926 Massachusetts, with a population of 4,197,000, had 64 cases of smallpox, though only 2 deaths, while CaUfornia, with a population of 400,000 less, had 26,985 cases and 392 deaths. This differ- ence in smallpox rate was not due to climate
. Biology; the story of living things. MAN'S FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL 629 patient in vaccination, and almost certain immunity against small- pox is conferred. Nevertheless, smallpox is still with us. Frequent outbreaks still occur and it is much to our shame that the United States has one fifth of all the smallpox in the civilized world. Dur- ing the years 1921-1926 Massachusetts, with a population of 4,197,000, had 64 cases of smallpox, though only 2 deaths, while CaUfornia, with a population of 400,000 less, had 26,985 cases and 392 deaths. This differ- ence in smallpox rate was not due to climate or conditions of Deaths from smallpox occur almost entirely in states that do not enforce compulsory vaccination laws. but simply to the fact that in 1911, laws compelling vaccination as a prerequisite for school attendance in California were repealed and in 1921 all compulsory vaccination laws were repealed, while in Massachusetts, vaccination is compulsory. In areas where vaccina- tion is required the rate of smallpox is almost zero. In the case of typhoid we have a nearly conquered enemy. Pri- marily a disease of the digestive tract, the bacilli enter the body with raw foods and leave the body in the feces. Hence, any food or drink that is contaminated with sewage becomes a potential source of infec- tion. Prior to 1890, the death rate from typhoid was frequently as high as 200 per 100,000 inhabitants, w^hile today in the country at large the death rate from typhoid and paratyphoid is only a little over 3 per 100,000. This change has been brought about first through the knowledge that epidemics are usually due to contaminated water or milk. Filtration plus chlorination of water supplies has cut out the offending bacillus from water. Pasteurization of milk has almost eliminated this source of danger, although there are still epidemics which are due to poor milk supplies. As late as 1927 Montreal, Canada, had an epidemic of 4755 cases of typhoid which were dis-
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