r personal
surroundings,--that is, our manner of living both as regards our private
life and our relations to other people. These diseases are largely
preventable and it is with them that most of the work of prevention is
to be carried on.

A disease is considered preventable if, by using the best known means of
treatment, it might be prevented or cured, so that either the disease or
the death usually resulting from it would be avoided.

Of course, not all deaths from a given disease could be prevented even
with the best known means. Infant diseases constitute one class which is
considered most hopeful of betterment through a pure milk supply and
better hygiene; and yet many authorities believe that not more than half
the deaths could be prevented owing to the large part played by weather
conditions, feeble constitutions, and other unchangeable conditions.

Preventable diseases may be divided into six classes:

(1) Diseases caused by lack of proper hygiene.

(2) Diseases caused by bad habits.

(3) Contagious diseases.

(4) Diseases caused by insects.

(5) Accidents, wounds, or operations and their resulting diseases.

(6) Diseases remedied by slight means.

We will treat each of these in turn.

(1) By proper hygiene is meant the proper treatment of the body as to
breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping, bathing and rest. This treatment
includes plenty of fresh air, both day and night, keeping outdoors as
much as possible, and in well-aired houses the rest of the time.
Vigorous but not violent exercise, brisk walking, regular physical
exercise, such as is practised in gymnasiums, will go far toward keeping
the body in good condition.

The question of fresh air in the home is one of the most important
points to be considered. The bedrooms, the living-rooms, and the kitchen
should have the air changed constantly, not once or twice a day. In
order to prevent drafts, and that the house may not be kept at too low a
temperature in winter, a board, eight to twelve inches in height, may be
placed across the bottom of a window that is raised.

Many diseases, not only of the throat and lungs, but of the other
organs, may be prevented by the constant introduction of fresh air into
our rooms day and night.

Tuberculosis causes more deaths than any other single disease in
America, and the sickness and disability continue longer than with most
diseases. It is extremely contagious, being a germ disease, and not an
inher