In the meantime the city of Havana was being rendered sanitary in a way which experience had taught would have overcome any bacterial infection, and, in fact, the diseases of filth, such as dysentery, tuberculosis, children's complaints and others, decreased in a surprising manner, while yellow fever seemed to have been little affected if at all.
Evidently, a more thorough overhauling of the matter was necessary to arrive at the truth, and while the question of Sanarelli and his claims was practically put aside, Surgeon-General Sternberg, recognizing the importance of the work before us and that its proportions were such as to render the outcome more satisfactory by the cooperation of several investigators in the same direction, wisely decided to create a board for the purpose and so caused the following to be issued:
Special Orders No. 122
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, May 24, 1900
Extract
34. By direction of the Secretary of War, a board of medical officers is appointed to meet at Camp Columbia, Quemados, Cuba, for the purpose of pursuing scientific investigations with reference to the infectious diseases prevalent on the Island of Cuba. Detail for the board:
Major Walter Reed, surgeon, U. S. Army;
Acting Assistant Surgeon James Carroll, U. S. Army;
Acting Assistant Surgeon Aristides Agramonte, U. S. Army;
Acting Assistant Surgeon Jesse W. Lazear, U. S. Army.
The board will act under general instructions to be
communicated to Major Reed by the Surgeon General of the Army.
By command of MAJOR GENERAL MILES,
H. C. CORBIN,
Adjutant General
It may be of interest to the reader to learn who these men were and the reasons why they were probably selected for the work.
Major Reed, the first member in the order of appointment, was the ranking officer and therefore the chairman of the board. He was a regular army officer, at the time curator of the Army Medical Museum in Washington and a bacteriologist of some repute. He deservedly enjoyed the full confidence of the surgeon general, besides his personal friendship and regard. Reed was a man of charming personality, honest and above board. Every one who knew him loved him and confided in him. A polished gentleman and a scientist of the highest order, he was peculiarly fitted for the work before him.
Dr. James Carroll, the second member of the board, was a self-made man, having risen from the ranks through his own efforts: while a member of the Army Hospital Corps he studied medicine and subsequently took several courses at Johns Hopkins University in the laboratory branches. At the time of his appointment to the board he had been for several years an able assistant to Major Reed. Personally, Carroll was industrious and of a retiring disposition.