In 1918 there were in the United States of America 57 societies engaged in public health work. Twenty-eight of these were devoted to such work exclusively and 29 of them supple mented their main work of social or educa tional betterment with some activity in pre ventive medicine. Among the many other indi cations of a vast movement among the more intelligent public to improve health and de velopment and forestall illness may be men tioned the great health engineering work of the Rockefeller Foundation through its medi cal board, of the Russell Sage Foundation, enormous private bequests to medical research, the improvement of health conditions and the wiping out of specific diseases in whole districts, as in New Orleans, Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone. Much of this has been the work of the Federal government through the surgeon-gen eral's office and its other agencies (segregated in 1918 under the United States Public Health Service). The community surveys and co operative work of all health agencies in the great experimental studies in Framingham, Mass., Jackson, Mich., and Cincinnati, Ohio; the anti-tuberculosis crusade; the attention to school and industrial luncheons ; the attention to nutrition, food values and wholesome food for the masses preceding, during and after the war— these are all parts of the great movement for improved health standards.
All of these health agencies recognize physi cal exercise as a fundamental requisite to any health program. Conversely, systematic work
in physical exercise, to produce its best results, should be related to other health considerations and preceded by thorough physical examina tion. It has been estimated (New York City Department of Health, 1916) that out of any 1,000 industrial workers 25 are all the time absent for illness. The United States Health Service has estimated the annual economic loss from illness among industrial workers in this country at $750,000,000. The future of the nation in its economic power and in the strength and character of its population, is thus inherent in this subject of physical development.
Bibliography.—American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education, Pro ceedings (1885 to 1895) ' • American Physical Education Review (1896 et seq.) ; Reports, United States Commissioner of Education and United States Bureau of Education (1891, 1897 and later) ; Bibliography of Physical Training, McCurdy, 1905; Bibliography of Physical Training, Bridges (from 1905 to 1911), pub lished by Y. M. C. A., 1912; Bibliography of Physical Training, Aifieck, published in Physical Education Review semi-annually since 1913; Bibliography on Posture and related subjects in 'The Posture of School Children,' Ban croft, 1912; A Bibliography on Educational Hygiene and Physical Education, Wood and Reesor, published by Columbia University, 1911.