On the Spread of Influenza by Contagion

Until the occurrence of the epidemic of influenza in 188990 very few living physicians knew from personal observation anything about the disease or its method of spread. They had, therefore, to rely on the teaching of the past, and I think many of them attached almost implicit reliance on the statements of Sir Thomas Watson, many of whose observations they have been able to verify in the case of other diseases, and whose writings possess a charm which is certainly absent in current medical text-books.