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to the seed, and the resisting power of the individual, which
may be considered as the soil. It is thus apparent that there
may be many people who are exposed to the action of the
bacillus who come to no harm owing to the resisting power of
their tissues.
The absence or presence of this resisting power may
be described as the predisposition, or otherwise, to the
disease, and it is on account of this predisposition that the
popular belief in the hereditary nature of consumption is
due. It is, however, certain that however much predisposed a
person may be, he will never develop tuberculosis unless he is
exposed to the bacillus, or in other words, the soil however
suitable and well prepared will not produce any growth unless
the proper seed be sown in it.
The consideration of these facts leads up to the remedies.
In the first place it is of the utmost importance that the general
sanitary condition of houses should be made as healthy as
possible. Sunlight and fresh air are powerful antiseptics, and
within the reach of all. Sir William Broadbent stated that he
was so often surprised to find cases of consumption prevalent
among the rich who lived in well-ordered houses, and had
every care and attention in the way of proper food, that he was
impelled to the belief that one of the chief causes was the dark
and ill-ventilated state of their houses.
I would point out to this Vestry, and it is a matter of congratulation
for them, that they have taken a very active part,
more, I believe, than any other parish in London, in enforcing
the proper lighting and ventilating of staircases, a sanitary provision
too much neglected, and although we have been obliged
to take some cases before the Courts, we have in almost every
instance gained our point, and more gratifying still is it to find
that the landlords, who at first bitterly opposed the requirement,
now that it has been carried out, express their satisfaction
and their opinion that it is an improvement to their"
property.
Another way in which the Vestry can act is by disinfection,
that is, rendering the bacillus powerless, or in other
words by destruction of the seed. This, of course, is a more
difficult task since the bacillus is probably ubiquitous; it is
coughed up in enormous numbers by phthisical patients, and
xiii.