Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/321

Rh The medical inspection of immigrants is the first, most comprehensive and most effectual line of defense against the introduction of disease or taint from without. It is properly a feature of quarantine, and the two systems, immigrant inspection and national quarantine, might well be combined and condensed to their mutual advantage. Especially is this true since both systems have the same object, require a somewhat similar plant, and are both operated by the federal Public Health Service.

The influence of immigration on the public health thus constitutes perhaps the most serious feature of this vexing and much-discussed problem. Disease or defectiveness of mind or body in the immigrant must be considered from two standpoints. First is the immediate result on those with whom the immigrant comes in contact. Second is the effect on the descendants of the immigrant, and indirectly on the general public; in short, the eugenic aspect.

Certain diseases have been considered so dangerous to the individual or to the public as to be included in a list of conditions which are absolutely excluded by the immigration law. Among these are venereal and other dangerous or loathsome contagious diseases, including tuberculosis, trachoma, filariasis, and hookworm infection. Insanity, epilepsy and mental defectiveness are likewise excluded.

There is a growing recognition of the wide prevalence of venereal disease in this country. and of the insidious danger from it. But no