Abstract
THE relation of man, whether savage or civilised, to his surroundings is one of constant exposure to influences which are hostile to his bodily well-being. Some of these are dangerous chiefly by reason of their insidiousness; others, although not concealed, are in their nature unavoidable others, though both known and avoidable, are yet for various reasons not avoided. All of them, of whichever class, are subjects of earnest study to the pathologist, one part of whose science is for this reason called etiology as relating to the causes of disease, the other being concerned with the disturbances which these causes induce inside the living human organism. “Sanitary Science” in so far as it is a science, is identical with etiology, and is therefore a branch of pathology. In this sense it is the science on which the art of preventing disease, or “Preventive Medicine,” as it is commonly called, is founded, and it will be admitted that, whatever doubt may exist as to the utility of exact knowledge of the nature of disease for its cure, there can be none as to its direct applicability to prevention.
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The Scheme of The Grocers' Company For The Encouragement of Original Research in Sanitary Science . Nature 27, 574–575 (1883). https://doi.org/10.1038/027574a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/027574a0