be kept separate from those of the rest of the family, and they should be boiled after each time that they are used. A consumptive should wash his hands occasionally in a disinfectant (page 169) to free them from germs. His handkerchiefs should be soaked in a disinfectant or kept in water until they can be boiled, and his clothes should be boiled before they are washed with other clothing. A consumptive always swallows some of the germs, and these are in the intestinal wastes. It is therefore necessary to keep these wastes covered from flies, to prevent their polluting drinking water, and to guard against their getting scattered on the earth about the homes of men.

Tuberculosis germs in milk. A considerable number of cattle have tuberculosis, and it is now known that many persons, especially children, get the disease from milk. All dairy cattle should be examined to see whether or not they have the disease. When milk is used from cattle that have not been examined, it is best to heat the milk to kill the germs in it. This will not only help to check tuberculosis, but will prevent a considerable amount of typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and other diseases that are spread by milk.

The importance of fresh air in the treatment of consumption. Every one should understand how important fresh air is in building up the body so that it can resist germs. There is little hope for

the consumptive who shuts himself up in the house and sleeps with his windows tightly closed. On the other hand, in the open-air schools that are run in some cities for children who have tuberculosis, and in sanatoria where the patients to a great extent

FIGS. IOI and 102.

Good food, fresh air, and rest are very important in the treatment of consumption.

live and sleep in the open air, many consumptives are being cured of the disease. Every consumptive should have a light, airy room that will not only give him fresh air but will let in the sunlight to kill the germs in the room. in the room. He should also have some place like an upper porch where he can spend a great part of his time outdoors.

Food, rest, and a skilled physician important. To gain the strength that he needs, a consumptive must have an abundance of nourishing, wellprepared food. He should have rest and should

not exercise or work, or he will bring on fever in the afternoons. He should also have a skilled physician to guide him in his care of himself and to give him the medical attention that he needs. Climate is not very important in the treatment of consumption, but in general a cool, dry climate is best. One of the most important points of all is to begin the treatment while the disease is still in its early stages. Not only is consumption far easier to cure when it is in its first stages than later, but it can be cured in much less time and at much smaller cost.

Questions: 1. Explain the difference between tuberculosis and consumption. 2. How much does tuberculosis cost the people of the United States each year? 3. How does the germ of tuberculosis enter the body? 4. Where do tuberculosis germs come from? 5. Mention some ways by which the germs are spread from a consumptive. 6. Why is the habit of spitting a dangerous one? 7. How may the germs from a consumptive be destroyed? 8. What diseases besides tuberculosis are caused by milk? 9. How may the germs in milk be killed? IO. Where should a consumptive spend a great part of his time? II. Mention other things that are important in the treatment of consumption. 12. Give two reasons why the treatment of consumption should be commenced at the earliest possible moment. Suggestions and topics for development: Hygienic living as a preventive of tuberculosis. Pasteurizing milk. Disinfection of houses recently occupied by consumptives. Obtain Board of Health bulletins on tuberculosis. Hawes' Consumption: What It Is and What to Do about It, published by Small, Maynard and Company of Boston, is a small volume of great worth.

OTHER DISEASES OF THE AIR PASSAGES AND LUNGS

BESIDES Consumption there are many other diseases of the air passages and lungs. The germs of all these diseases enter the body through the mouth and nose, and they are all spread by coughing, by spitting in public places, by the hands, by drinking cups, and

in the various other ways by which FIG. 103. A drinking cup that had been in the germs from a consumptive are use in a school for nine scattered abroad.

days was examined and was estimated to have Pneumonia. Pneumonia causes on each square inch of more deaths in the United States its surface 100,000 bac

teria.

than any other germ disease except tuberculosis. It is a catching disease, and no one should be about a pneumonia patient except those who are taking care of him. The sputum of a person who has the disease is filled with the germs and should be destroyed.

Diphtheria. This disease is caused by a germ that grows in the air passages, usually in the throat. Generally the disease shows itself in from one to three days after the germs get into the body. Many cases of diphtheria are so mild that they are mistaken for simple sore throat, but in other cases it is a very severe disease. Sometimes the germs remain in the throat of a diphtheria patient for weeks or even for months after he recovers. It is therefore

very important that a physician examine any one who has recovered from diphtheria to see if he is free from the germs before he is let out of quarantine. Some well persons who have been about

those who have the disease may carry the germs in their throats although they themselves are not sick. For this reason those who are living in a family where there is diphtheria should be quarantined as well as the person who is sick, and when diphtheria breaks out in a school it is often necessary to examine all the children in the school and quarantine some who are carrying diphtheria germs,

even when they are not sick. In the treatment of diphtheria nothing is important as to give anti

SO

toxin at the earliest possible moment. The disease sometimes called membranous croup is diphtheria. Whooping cough. Whooping cough causes the death of great numbers of babies, and children should be protected from it. Usually the disease shows itself in from four to fourteen days after the