ing
from pronouncing the patient's doom, he knows now that he has everything
to gain and nothing to lose by promptly warning him of his danger, even
while it is still problematical. On the other hand, the patient need no
longer recoil in horror when told that he has consumption, and either go
home to set his house in order and make his will, or hunt up another
medical adviser who will take a more cheerful view of his case. All that
he has to do is to turn and fight the disease vigorously, intelligently,
persistently, with the certain knowledge that the chances are five to
one in his favor; and that's a good fighting chance for any one.

Even should there be reasonable ground for doubt as to the positive
nature of the disease, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain by
taking the steps required to cure it. There is nothing magical or
irrational, least of all injurious, in any way about them. Simply rest,
abundant feeding, and plenty of fresh air. Even if the bacillus has not
yet lodged in his tissues, this treatment will relieve the conditions of
depression from which he is suffering, and which would sooner or later
render him a favorable lodging-place for this omnipresent, tiny enemy.

If he has the disease the treatment will cure it. If he hasn't got it,
it will prevent it; and the gain in vigor, weight, and general
efficiency will more than pay him for the time lost from his business or
his study. It always pays to take time to put yourself back into a
condition of good health and highest efficiency.

It was early recognized that the campaign could not be won with this
weapon alone. Inexpressibly valuable and cheering as it was, it had
obvious limitations. The first of these was the obvious reflection that
it was idle to cure even eighty per cent of all who actually developed
tuberculosis, unless something were done to stop the disease from
developing at all. "Eighty per cent of cures," of course, sounds very
encouraging, especially by contrast with the almost unbroken succession
of deaths before. But even a twenty per cent mortality from such a
common disease, if it were to proceed unchecked, would make enormous
inroads every year upon our national vigor.

Secondly, it was quickly seen that those who recovered from the disease
still bore the scars; that while they might recover a fair degree of
health and vigor, yet they were always handicapped by the time lost and
the damage inflicted by this slow and obsti