Year by year each Naval medical officer receives a copy of the Blue Book, the "Statistical Report of the Health of the Navy." It is an interesting and useful study to compare these statistics connected with the various diseases over a period of years, with a view to ascertain what progress has been made either in diminishing the incidence of certain diseases, or in diminishing the time lost to the Service by each entry of these diseases. These Statistical Reports give the result of our endeavours in combating disease, and the study of them shows how these endeavours are proceeding. The work of the Naval medical officer is judged as regards disease by two facts: the number of cases of disease which occur, and the number of days which the Service loses by sickness arising from disease. The former concerns the preventive treatment of disease, the latter the treatment after the disease has been contracted.
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