The Weariness, the Fever, and the Fret: The Campaign against Tuberculosis in Canada, 1900-1950

405 Pages·1999·26.28 MB·English

by  Katherine McCuaig

The Weariness, the Fever, and the Fret
The Campaign against Tuberculosis in Canada,
1900-1950
An ancient disease which predates humankind, tuberculosis was one
of the earliest chronic life-threatening diseases faced by Canadians. By
1900 "The White Plague" was the number one cause of death for
Canadians between fifteen and forty-five years of age. Racked by inces-
sant coughing, barely able to catch their breath, tuberculosis sufferers
seemed to literally waste away. In The Weariness, the Fever, and the Fret
Katherine McCuaig takes an in-depth look at the campaign against
TB, from its beginnings as part of the turn-of-the-century urban social
reform movement to the 1950s and the discovery of antibiotics that
could cure it. Although the bacillus that causes it had been discovered
in 1882, at the turn of the century TB was, as Sir William Osier
observed, "a social disease with a medical aspect." With "fresh air, good
food, good houses, and hope" as the only available treatment, fighting
the disease meant not only eliminating the germ but attacking the
underlying social problems that predisposed an individual to disease
- alcoholism and poor living and working conditions.
By the end of World War I the bacteriological approach had become
dominant, with federally expanded sanatoria, increasing provincial
involvement and responsibility, and more sophisticated technology to
diagnose and treat the disease. The campaign against TB not only
influenced the way in which health services were established and the
division of responsibility among various levels of government and
volunteers but profoundly affected attitudes toward the political and
economic development of Canadian health care and the ultimate
demand for medicare.
KATHERINE McCUAIG is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of
Canada. A physician with a Masters Degree in Canadian history, she
has published in both medical and historical journals.
MCGILL-QUEEN'S ASSOCIATED MEDICAL SERVICES
(HANNAH INSTITUTE)
Studies in the History of Medicine, Health, and Society
Series Editors: S.O. Freedman and J.T.H. Connor
Volumes in this series have financial support from Associated
Medical Services, Inc., through the Hannah Institute for the
History of Medicine program.
1 Home Medicine
The Newfoundland Experience
John K. Crellin
2 A Long Way from Home
The Tuberculosis Epidemic among the Inuit
Pat Sandiford Grygier
3 Labrador Odyssey
The Journal and Photographs of Eliot Curwen on the Second
Voyage of Wilfred Grenfell, 1893
Edited by Ronald Rompkey
4 Architecture in the Family Way
Doctors, Houses, and Women, 1870—1900
Annmarie Adams
5 Local Hospitals in Ancien Regime France
Rationalization, Resistance, Renewal, 1530—1789
Daniel Hickey
6 Foisted upon the Government?
State Responsibilities, Family Obligations, and the Care of the
Dependant Aged in Nineteenth-Century Ontario
Edgar-Andre Montigny
7 A Young Man's Benefit
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Sickness Insurance
in the United States and Canada, 1860—1929
George Emery and J.C. Herbert Emery
8 The Weariness, the Fever, and the Fret
The Campaign against Tuberculosis in Canada, 1900—1950
Katherine McCuaig
The Weariness,
the Fever,
and the Fret
The Campaign against
Tuberculosis in Canada,
1900-1950
KATHERINE McCUAIG
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
McGill-Queen's University Press 1999
ISBN 0-7735-1833-9 (cloth)
ISBN 0-7735-1875-4 (paper)
Legal deposit third quarter 1999
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
This book has been published with the help of a grant
from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of
Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the
financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development
Program (BPIDP) for its activities. We also acknowledge
the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our
publishing program.
Canada
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
McCuaig, Katherine, 1959-
The weariness, the fever and the fret: the campaign
against tuberculosis in Canada, 1900—1950
(McGill-Queen's/Hannah Institute studies in the
history of medicine, health and society; 8)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1833-9 (bound)
ISBN 0-7735-1875-4 (pbk.)
1. Tuberculosis - Canada - History. 2. Tuberculosis -
Canada - Prevention. I. Title. II. Series.
RC314.M33 1999 362.1'96995'oo971 C99-900746-7
Typeset in New Baskerville 10/12 by Caractera inc.,
Quebec City.
To my mother, June Marie McCuaig
And in memory of my father, James Auley McCuaig
This book is dedicated with love and gratitude
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Tables and Figures ix
Preface xi
Introduction xv
1 The Social Reform Era, 1900-1914: A Social
Disease with a Medical Aspect 3
2 Tuberculosis and the Great War 32
3 The Interwar Years: A Medical Disease with a Social
Aspect 56
4 The Interwar Years: The Changing Role of
Volunteers 107
5 The Interwar Years: The Role of the State 132
6 Childhood Tuberculosis 157
7 Tuberculosis and World War 2 179
8 The Triumph of Technology, Bacteriology, and
Scientific Management 186
9 The Disease and the Campaign: A Reflection of
Twentieth-Century Social Philosophy 224
10 Conclusion 245
viii Contents
Appendix One: Tuberculosis Institutions in
Canada 279
Appendix Two: Funding the Tuberculosis
Campaign 284
Appendix Three: Preventive Work and Tuberculosis
Mortality 289
Notes 295
Bibliography 345
Index 379
Tables and Figures
Tables
A1 Sanatoria in Canada before 1920 279
A 2 Resident Tuberculosis Treatment Institutions 280
A3 Number of Beds in Tuberculosis Institutions 282
A4 Expenditures of Nonfederal Sanatoria 282
A5 Revenue of Tuberculosis Sanatoria 283
A6 Federal Tuberculosis Control Grants, Provincial
Expenditures 284
A 7 Federal Tuberculosis Control Grants, Expenditures
by Program 285
A8 Expenditures under the Hospital Construction
Grant 286
A9 Special Grants from Various Sources 286
AIO Canadian Christmas Seal Campaign Returns 288
AH Case-finding Activities in Canada 289
A12 Number of BCG Vaccinations in Canada 290
A 13 Deaths from All Forms of Tuberculosis 291
A 14 Mortality Rates for All Forms of Tuberculosis 292
A 15 Ten Leading Causes of Death in Canada 293
Figures
Sputum flasks 11
Patient on a roof 18
Window tent 19
Knopf indoor window tent when in use 20
Knopf window tent when not in use 21
The Cure in Montreal 22
Patient on a verandah 23