science · 17 January 1856 · 168 years ago
birth
Born 17 Jan 1856; died 31 Jan 1941 at age 85.
American physician and epidemiologist who, with Gardner T. Swarts, established the first municipal bacteriological laboratory in the U.S. (1888) in Providence, Rhode Island. As Superintendent of Health of Providence for 48 years from 1884, he compiled epidemiological data of outstanding accuracy and completeness. He determined from field studies and statistics that infectious diseases were spread in the region's temperate climate by simple personal contact. In 1910, he established Providence City Hospital where infectious disease carriers could be isolated under aseptic nursing conditions. His success pioneered similar health control measures throughout the U.S. He wrote The Sources and Modes of Infection (1910).
OnThisDay.net