Biography of Dr. Harvey Cushing

A need for more hospital accommodations has followed advances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, acting in association with an increase in the social conscience and in the individual regard for health. Operating perhaps more slowly is a different factor,-the elimination and reduction of disease by prevention will entirely alter the character of hospital practice, and, the .author believes, may greatly reduce the need for institutional treatment. He also notes that the dominant factor in deciding health legislation has often a political rather than a scientific basis. Medical knowledge as a limiting factor in public health schemes, as, for example, in the treatment of cancer, and the influences of changes in health and fertility on populations are also discussed. Based on past experience, the author anticipates that the adoption of the teachings of medical science will greatly lag behind the new discoveries. "The extent of this lag will depend on medical leadership, on doctors themselves, on public health authorities, and on the intelligence of the public."