The cholera-germ : when, where, and why infectious / by Gustav Jaeger ; translated and edited by Lewis R.S. Tomalin.

  • Jäger, Gustav, 1832-1917.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The cholera-germ : when, where, and why infectious / by Gustav Jaeger ; translated and edited by Lewis R.S. Tomalin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    ( «4 ) factor X is, of course, a; part of nature, while Man.is mainly responsible for factor Z, which can therefore be reached by the law. Factor Y is only partially concerned in infectious diseases, and is influenced by Man and nature combined; as the under- ground water only becomes factor Y when polluted by Man. The law can only reach that for which Man is directly responsible and the endeavour of the State to deal with the cholera epidemic must therefore, in the first place, be directed to factor Z, in the second place to factor Y, and only in the last instance to factor X. 2. Which is the most favourable, most promising point of attack when an evil has to be extirpated ? Surely the root of the evil; and that this is in all epidemics factor Z, the individual tendency, is beyond all doubt. Without Z factors X and Y can effect nothing. If it be objected that Z without X cannot produce an epidemic, I reply that Z is already an evil, irrespec- tively of X, and its removal is of itself a duty imposed upon humanity. Those who thus possess a tendency to disease are practically powerless to resist the attack of any epidemic; secondly, they are susceptible to all the diseases peculiar to enfeebled constitutions; and thirdly, they are in a state of physical degradation, which is a misfortune both for them and for their fellow-creatures. What is the object of laws dealing with epidemics ? Clearly to advance the general welfare and perform a humane duty. The question is, therefore, what course to pursue in order to attain this end most completely. 3. By combating factor Z we shall secure the removal of chronic, not merely physical, but also moral and social evils, and the abatement of all diseases without distinction; moreover, a general permanent benefit will be conferred on an entire class of people. If, on the other hand, our efforts are mainly directed to combating factor X, the result to mankind, as the last cholera epidemic showed, will be not a benefit, but a calamity, a letting loose of vexatious rules against a number of people who have done no harm, and who derive no benefit from these rules, but injury and chagrin instead. 4. Laws must be just—i.e., where they punish, command, or make responsible they must hit the exact person who is really