Disease and Its Causes

W. T. Councilman begins with a broad problem: how to define disease when health varies from one person to another. His 1913 account approaches illness through the relationship between living things and their surroundings, then introduces cells, body structures and the processes of injury and repair. Written for general readers with some knowledge of anatomy and physiology, the book gives its largest share of attention to infectious disease.

The chapters connect bacteria, immunity and the spread of infection with discussions of tumors, heredity and heart disease. A passage on porcelain filters shows how investigators tested fluids and studied agents small enough to pass through barriers that trapped bacteria. Councilman also distinguishes established knowledge from unresolved questions in his preface. For readers interested in the history of medicine, these explanations offer a view of the experiments, assumptions and limits that shaped a physician's understanding of disease in 1913.