The story of General Sternberg's life is one of arduous devotion to duty, of unflagging industry and of unexcelled patriotism. Entering the Army in 1861, at the age of 23, he served through the Civil War with courage and ability. It is said that he saw more active service on the battle field and in Indian campaigns than any other medical officer of his time. After the Civil War, he acquired an unusual experience in dealing with epidemics of cholera and yellow fever, and was himself a temporary victim of the latter disease. His interest in these infections led him to take up the study of bacteriology, in which he was originally self-taught. He was the pioneer bacteriologist of this country.
Through his books on the value of commercial disinfectants, en bacteriology, malarial fever, immunity and serum therapy, he was the earliest to teach American physicians the fundamental principles and technic of bacteriology, including the culture methods and photomicrography. In 1880, he discovered the micro-organism of pneumonia, before Pasteur announced his findings. He was the first in this country to show the organisms of malarial fever, cholera and tuberculosis. His researches on malarial fever and yellow fever made it clear that neither of these diseases could be caused by a bacterial organism. These negative findings were of the utmost importance in establishing the true causal relations in these infections. We can only appreciate the worth of such researches in the light of Bacon's axiom: "It is easier to evolve the truth from error than from confusion." Before their publication, confusion reigned.
As Surgeon-General of the Army (1893-1902), Sternberg created the Army Medical School, organized the Army Nurse Corps and the Dental Corps, established the Tuberculosis Hospital at Fort Bayard, and many general hospitals during the Spanish-American War. His own early difficulties in acquiring the knowledge for which he thirsted led him to the liberal-minded policy of encouraging medical officers to engage in scientific research in laboratories established by him in the larger post hospitals. Similar aims resulted in the establishment by him of the Typhoid Fever Board (Majors Reed, Vaughan and Shakespeare), which gave us a new point of view for the prevention of this disease; and of the Yellow Fever Commission, headed by Major Walter Reed, who, with his associates, discovered that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito. The enormous gain to medicine and public hygiene through these discoveries is well known.
Finally, after his retirement from active duty in the Army, General Sternberg devoted the evening of his life to social welfare activities in Washington, of which his work on sanitary improvement of habitations and the care of the tuberculous was perhaps the most important. He was highly honored in his lifetime, a president of the American Medical Association and of many other important scientific societies.
The present volume has been revised for the press by Lieut-Col. F. H. Garrison and Dr. Frank J. Stockman, both of the Surgeon-General's Library.
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