Sir George Newman, chief medical officer of the ministry of health, has issued an important memorandum on public education in health matters. He emphasizes the great importance of public opinion as a driving force behind sanitary and other hygienic measures. But it has not kept pace with the recent great advances of medicine. Compulsory education has indeed contributed to progress in the understanding and interpretation of the laws of health. More reasonable dress, the disappearance of tight clothing and trailing skirts, a far larger amount of outdoor exercise, more active amusements and athletics, and the open-air life, have brought an immense improvement in the personal health of girls and women, an improvement that has abolished chlorosis, previously a common disease, and has materially affected the whole standard of their health. Another example of the effect of public opinion is the rapid diminution of spitting of late years, and there is a rise in the standard of cleanliness, personal and domestic. But public opinion is still in need of education on the whole subject of the applications of preventive medicine that may be made by the individual. In every direction the prevention of disease is becoming a personal concern rather than a matter dependent on the authorities. It is neglect of this personal aspect that is now restricting the operations and results of preventive medicine in many fields; and it is this personal aspect that accentuates the need for a greater degree of public education. The need for an educational campaign is shown by a heavy mortality and invalidity from causes largely preventable. Neglect of the common cold and behavior which insures its direct transmission to others, are widespread. Sufferers from colds breathe, sneeze and cough in other people's faces, careless or ignorant of the fact that they are highly infectious. The habit of living, either at home or when at work, in overheated, ill ventilated rooms, and then going out into cold winds and weather, predisposes to respiratory disease and infection.