This address was delivered to the Health Department of the Social Science Congress. Richardson asks the congress to study the causes and conditions that increase disease, how they can be lessened and how to inform the uninformed. Richardson believed that poverty meant poor health, which in turn meant poor mental ability. The title Hygeia comes from Greek mythology. Hygeia was the goddess of health cleanliness, and sanitation. She was associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health.