13.07.2015 Views

History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

360 <strong>History</strong> <strong>of</strong> Medical Practice <strong>in</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>oisdrawn that, although no "pathogenic organisms" were actually demonstrated,the "excessive numbers" <strong>of</strong> bacteria <strong>of</strong> all k<strong>in</strong>ds <strong>in</strong> the samples<strong>in</strong>dicated the probable presence <strong>of</strong> pathogens.From 1899 to 1903 no <strong>of</strong>ficial report <strong>of</strong> the health department was published.It was dur<strong>in</strong>g this period that Dr. W. J.Class, assistant bacteriologist,began his <strong>in</strong>vestigations on the bacteriology <strong>of</strong> scarlet fever, the results<strong>of</strong> which were confirmed <strong>in</strong> later years.published a series <strong>of</strong> articles dur<strong>in</strong>g thisDr. Adolph Gehrmann alsoperiod, deal<strong>in</strong>g with the newlydeveloped agglut<strong>in</strong>ation methods for diagnosis <strong>of</strong> typhoid fever,laboratorytests <strong>of</strong> smallpox vacc<strong>in</strong>e necessary before its distribution for generaluse, and for the control <strong>of</strong> the bacterial content <strong>of</strong> milk.From that time on the city laboratory cont<strong>in</strong>ued to expand its rout<strong>in</strong>eservices to the public year by year. One <strong>of</strong> the important contributions <strong>of</strong>this period is a report by the Sanitary District <strong>of</strong> Chicago entitled "StreamsExam<strong>in</strong>ations," published <strong>in</strong>1902. The occasion for this report was thelegal controversy between the city <strong>of</strong> Chicago and St. Louis over thealleged pollution <strong>of</strong> the Ill<strong>in</strong>ois River, a tributary <strong>of</strong> the Mississippi Riverat Grafton, 111., by the sewage <strong>of</strong> Chicago, pass<strong>in</strong>g through the newly constructedsanitary dra<strong>in</strong>age channel <strong>in</strong>to the Ill<strong>in</strong>ois River at Lockport, 111.Dr. Edw<strong>in</strong> O. Jordan, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> bacteriology at the University <strong>of</strong> Chicago,was the guid<strong>in</strong>g genius <strong>of</strong> this <strong>in</strong>vestigation. The report conta<strong>in</strong>sa letter <strong>of</strong> transmittal from Dr. Arthur R. Reynolds, commissioner <strong>of</strong>health <strong>of</strong> the city <strong>of</strong> Chicago;(a)(b) a report <strong>of</strong> the results <strong>of</strong> water analyses,by Dr. Adolph Gehrmann, city bacteriologist; (c) a report from the University<strong>of</strong> Chicago, by Edw<strong>in</strong> O. Jordan, Ph.D.;(d) a report from the University<strong>of</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois, by A. W. Palmer, S.C.D., and (e) a report from theUniversity <strong>of</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois, by T. J.Burrill. In the general summary <strong>of</strong> thereport, which was written personally by Dr. Jordan, this statement appears:"The facts <strong>in</strong>dicate that the colon bacteria, present undoubtedly<strong>in</strong> much larger numbers than the typhoid bacteria, disappear completely<strong>in</strong> less than 50 miles <strong>of</strong> flow."The steadily progress<strong>in</strong>g development <strong>of</strong> the laboratory services <strong>of</strong> thecity <strong>in</strong> the years 1893 to 1910 seems significant <strong>in</strong> that it presaged the muchgreater development to come <strong>in</strong> the next two decades.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!