One of the earliest and most important definite charitable movements was prison reform. On this subject see in the Britannica the articles,—all by Major Arthur Griffiths, British inspector of prisons,—Prison, Crime, Criminology, Children’s Courts, Police, Juvenile Offenders, Deportation, Finger Prints, Identification. This series of articles shows both the improvements in methods of treating criminals, in itself a means of protecting society, and the better methods of defense and of police.

Insane

On the treatment of the insane and feeble-minded, on the gradual assumption of responsibility for them by governments, and on the transition from the prison-like asylum to the modern hospital, see the article Insanity, particularly part III (Vol. 14, p. 616), on Hospital Treatment, by Dr. Frederick Peterson, professor of psychiatry, Columbia University, author of Mental Diseases, etc.

Deaf and Blind

As great as the change in treatment of the insane has been that in the treatment of the deaf and blind. On this subject read the articles; Blindness (Vol. 4, p. 59), by Sir Francis J. Campbell, principal of the Royal Normal College for the Blind; and Deaf and Dumb (Vol. 7, p. 880), by the Rev. Arnold Hill Payne, chaplain of the Oxford Diocesan Mission to the Deaf and Dumb. Both these authors have had experience in teaching in the United States as well as in Great Britain,—one of the many striking instances of the wisdom displayed in the choice of contributors to the Britannica. And see the articles on Gallaudet (Vol. 11, p. 416), the great teacher of the deaf, and S. G. Howe (Vol. 13, p. 837), the educator of the blind.

Biographies

The following list, arranged for the most part in chronological order, gives some of the names of reformers and philanthropists about whom there are separate articles. These biographical sketches will be of great value for the study of the history and development of charitable work for the public welfare.

CHAPTER XLIX
HEALTH AND DISEASE

You may have happened to glance at one of the text-books written for the use of medical students and of doctors, and found that you could hardly understand a word of it. And yet you have found, when you consulted a specialist, and he wanted to explain to you just what was wrong with some part of your body, that he could make it all quite clear to you. The six hundred articles on health and disease in the Britannica are written by specialists, most of them, indeed, by professors in the leading medical schools; and these contributors to the Britannica are also the authors of many of the best text-books that practising physicians and surgeons habitually use. But in the Britannica the specialists were writing for the general public; and for that reason they have taken care not to be too technical either in their point of view or in the language they use.