220                     The Atlantic Seaboard
where he remained active until his retirement thirty years later. In
1903 he issued a long report upon prevalence and geographical distri-
bution of hookworm disease in the United States, emphasizing that
in those southern rural areas he had studied, this ground itch was one
of the most important and most common diseases and that the prover-
bial laziness, anemias, and dirt-eating were due in large measure to this
infestation.
   Mark Sullivan in "Our Times" in the New York Sun headlined that
the "germ of laziness" had been found. Did that ever get under
the skin
of our southern friends and when one thinks of the mode of entrance of
hookworm larvae, that was actually occurring in more ways than one.
Walter H. Page of Theodore Roosevelt's Country Life Commission
enlisted the aid of Frederick T. Gates, the far-seeing, white-haired,
florid-faced giant, advisor in philanthropy to John D. Rockefeller.
Gates became interested in the important fact that the disease is largely
preventable, and Mr. Rockefeller agreed to underwrite a five-year pro-
gram.
   The Rockefeller Hookworm Commission set to work with Wycliffe
 Rose as administrative secretary and Stiles as scientific secretary. Both
 men were aware of the necessity of obtaining local co-operation and
 achieved it with skillful diplomacy. Stiles gave lectures and demonstra-
 tions everywhere; he stressed that the problem was one of only 20 per
 cent treatment but 8o per cent prevention. Harsh criticism was thrown
 at Stiles and the Commission, but they continued the campaign, and
 towards the end of the period, Stiles admitted that the unwarranted
 attacks had actually helped by widely advertising the work. We must
 expect and we need conflict, but it should be kept to the issues rather
 than permitted to descend to personal attacks. The work of the Com-
 mission and collaborating agencies was so successful that the Rocke-
 feller Foundation has carried on similar practices in other parts of the
 world.
    Stiles was a vigorous, outspoken, versatile scientist who occasionally
  aroused antagonisms, but we need such competent accurate-visioned
  gadflies. A listing of his astounding bibliography with monographs in
  many fields, both synthetic and analytic in type, would be out of place
  here. He received merited honorary degrees and many other honors
  both in Europe and in this country, including the gold medal of our own
  National Academy of Science for eminence in the application of science
  to the public welfare.