"
[Fig. 172]
Fig. 172--*Consumption germs* from the spit of one having the disease.
Highly magnified and stained. (Huber's _Consumption and Civilization_.)
*Consumption*, or tuberculosis of the lungs, spoken of as the "white
plague," was among the first diseases shown to be due to bacteria.
Consumption is now recognized as an infectious disease, though not so
readily communicated as some other diseases. Several methods are
recognized by which the germs are passed from the sick to the well, the
most important being as follows:
1. By personal contact of the sick with the well, especially in kissing.
2. By the sputum, or spit, which, if allowed to dry, is blown about as
dust and breathed into the lungs(132) (Fig. 172).
3. By means of objects (drinking cups, tableware, etc.) that have been
handled by consumptives.
4. By infectious material associated with houses or rooms in which
consumptives have lived.
These methods of spreading consumption suggest the necessity for the
greatest care, on the part of both the patient and those having him in
charge.(133) The material coughed up from the lungs and throat should be
collected on cloths or paper handkerchiefs and afterwards burned. The
house where a consumptive has lived should be disinfected, repapered or
calcimined, and thoroughly cleaned before it is again occupied.
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