800 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



subject not only to the inhalation in the car, but also to carrying the 

 infectious material to their homes. 



The danger of this condition is not merely speculative. It has 

 been bacteriologically demonstrated that the organisms of various 

 contagious diseases thus find a lodging place in our cars and public 

 places, and experiments on animals, in which the inoculation has de- 

 veloped diseases, have shown that these organisms retain their vitality 

 in these places and may propagate disease under favorable conditions. 



A factor in the spread of diseases of the throat and mouth that 

 should not be overlooked is kissing. Unfortunately, this matter has 

 usually been treated with much levity, and where a sanitarian is bold 

 enough to condemn the habit he is frequently made the subject of 

 all forms of ridicule in the public press. 



The tender lining of the lips, mouth, and throat, and its large 

 blood supply, make it peculiarly susceptible to contagion, and I have 

 no doubt that the habit of kissing is responsible for many cases of in- 

 fection. Last year I noticed a lady coming from a house from which 

 a diphtheria flag was flying, who walked to the corner to take the 

 street car, when a nurse with a small child approached. The lady 

 without hesitation stooped down and kissed the little child. As it is 

 well known that a healthy person may transmit a disease without in- 

 curring the disease himself, this lady voluntarily risked the danger 

 of inflicting this disease upon the innocent child. It is not an un- 

 common thing for nurses to kiss the children under their charge, 

 and here in New Orleans even the colored nurses sometimes practice 

 this habit, occasionally with the permission of the parents. In fact, 

 a fashionable lady on one occasion told me, when I remonstrated with 

 her about this, that she feared to hurt the feelings of the old nurse, 

 who had been a valuable servant in the family for many years. 



How often this habit is productive of evil results is of course 

 only speculation. I recall, however, an instance in which two small 

 children of one family developed a specific disease which originated 

 in the mouth and affected the whole system. Examination proved 

 this to have been caused by a nurse, a white woman, who had been 

 in the habit of kissing the children. If women will voluntarily incur 

 risks by using kissing as a form of salutation in all stages of acquaint- 

 anceship, I would at least request that the innocent children be spared 

 the possible consequences. 



The subject of the hygiene of the ear is so intimately connected 

 with conditions influencing the nose and throat, which have already 

 been explained, that but few words are needed to cover this part of 

 my subject. In general, the best care of the ear is to leave it alone. 

 Ear scoops are injurious; the ear should be cleaned simply on the 

 outside, and nothing, as a rule, should be inserted into the external 



