THE VALUE OF HEALTH TO THE STATE. In general terms, health is defined as that condition which results from the harmonious relations and painless operations of the organic functions of the human system, and enables us readily to accomplish the ends of life. Disease, too, is a product of organic functions, but of those whose harmony of relation and insensible operations are interfered with. Health and disease, like the conditions implied by the terms strength and weakness, are not simple entities, but they are exceedingly complex, variously derived, comparative conditions. No one is absolutely well, nor is any one diseased in all respects, but every one is more or less healthy or diseased. Our estimate of the degree of health or sickness is founded upon the extent to which our capabilities for performing the ordinary duties of life, during our natural existence, are interfered with. Since, then, the value of a life depends upon its accomplishments, and these again upon its capabilities, the value of health to the individual is self-evident. It is a fact, however, which ought to be understood and appreciated by every one, that it is not alone from his own good health that the individual derives benefit, for the well-being of his neighbors and associates, likewise, is the source of many, and oftentimes of far greater advantages to himself. Public health is merely the general term for the health of large aggregations of persons, as distinguished from that of the individuals; but, at the same time, it is the expression of the totality of the individual conditions. If we apply, then, the same reasoning in our estimation of the value of a corporate body, an analogy which cannot be disputed, it appears that the prosperity of a town, city, state or country stands in immediate relation with its sanitary condition. It is obvious, therefore, that there exists a community of interest between the individual and the State of which he forms a part; and, while the latter is required zealously to watch over all the conditions of the health of its members, as the basis of its corporate prosperity, the individual ought always to seek the promotion of the well-being of himself and neighbors, as an essential condition of his own welfare. This mutual relation, in respect of health, between the individual and community was recognized, more or less, even in the remotest ages, a fact which is attested by the fables of mythology, by history, both sacred and profane, and, above all, by the impressive stories which are told by the ruins of Babylon, Jerusalem, and ancient cities of Greece, Egypt, and Italy, wherein are found monumental works which rival the products of modern sanitary engineering, and point to the fact, that those nations which attained the highest civilization and wielded the greatest influence over their contemporaries always exercised a careful guard over their health. In succeeding ages, when civilization declined and the unwritten period of barbarism was inaugurated, all hygienic laws were put to defiance in the general destruction which prevailed; and the sanitary lessons of previous ages were lost, to be recalled in a measure only, in the subsequent middle ages, when terrible epidemics cut off one-fourth of the population of Europe, and, again, more forcibly, in the following centuries of luxury and squalor. In later years, when civilization has made such great advances, crude hygiene has developed into the more comprehensive study of the laws of disease as they affect large masses of human beings. Innumerable expedients have been adopted for the amelioration of disease and the improvement of health. The greatest minds have been devoted to the investigation of the origin of diseases, and inventive genius has been stimulated to the utmost. Yet, to-day, we can hardly do more than did the ancients; namely, endeavor to keep clean, or, following the counsel of the wise Hippocrates, provide for pure air, pure water, and a pure soil. While, therefore, to-day, as in all ages, the problem of health finds its solution, in a great measure, in the observ |