s cauterization was
employed, as was done also with cases of rabies, and, if it were
possible to reach the virus in the wounds before it escaped into the
blood, such a method of treatment would be quite reasonable, but it is
quite beyond hope to prevent infection in a jagged wound by cutting out
adjacent flesh, with no regard to the dissolved poison. The more
reasonable treatment is to inject the antitoxin, which neutralizes the
poison and prevents, or at least minimizes, the disease.

CHAPTER XXI

_HYGIENE AND LAW_

One of the fundamental principles of society is that each individual
must, in his methods of living, conduct himself with a due regard for
the rights, comfort, and health of others in the same society. A single
man or a single family living alone on a desert island requires no
restrictions of conduct, since there are no fellow-beings on whom his
violations of good conduct might react. The inhabitants of small
villages with small families on large lots are but little concerned with
laws governing social intercourse, since, at best, the amount of that
intercourse is inconsiderable. But, as population becomes greater, as
congestion increases, and as civilization and its requirements develop,
the need for law governing the interrelations of individuals becomes
imperative. Such laws deal with the moral life under many phases, and
the courts exist for the enforcement of such laws as the people
themselves, through their legislatures, demand for their own
self-protection.

One of the primitive laws found necessary, even among uncivilized
people, is that against theft, and, whether committed in the barbarous
tribes of Africa or on the frontier plains of the West, the act is
recognized as being contrary to the greatest good of the community, and,
if detected, is severely punished. As civilization advances, the code
of laws found necessary becomes more and more complex, and, although
use has made obedience to such laws almost second nature, it is hardly
possible to-day to escape the immediate restraint of such laws for more
than a moment at a time throughout any period of twenty-four hours.

_Principle of laws of hygiene._

It is particularly the laws which pertain to health and hygiene which we
shall consider in this chapter. The principle on which laws relating to
hygiene are passed is that while nominally a person is always free to do
with his own whatever he may choose, yet as a member of a communit