SOILED PAPER MONEY 157 



A BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOILED PAPER MONEY 



By warren w. hilditch 



THE SHEFFIELD LABORATORY OF BACTERIOLOGY AND HYGIENE, YALE UNIVERSITY 



IT is generally acknowledged to-day that little progress can be made 

 in sanitation or hygiene without the general cooperation of the 

 public. To obtain this cooperation, it is essential that the people be 

 correctly informed upon all sanitary or hygienic subjects; for should 

 it be found that the demands for this or that improvement are not 

 based upon true scientific facts, how can success be hoped for, when a 

 reallv essential reform is brought forth? 



All will agree that soiled paper money is at least not a thing of 

 beauty, and the unpleasant odors and filth accompanying some bills 

 offend every esthetic sense, and give -good foundation for the demand 

 for a more frequent issue or redemption of our currency by the govern- 

 ment. Everybody who has traveled abroad will admit that our paper 

 currency is a disgrace when compared to the clean, crisp money to be 

 found in many of the foreign countries, where soiled or worn bills are 

 almost unknown. 



In our arguments for clean money, should we include the one which 

 claims that soiled paper money is a frequent medium for the trans- 

 mission of infectious diseases? The popular opinion to-day is that 

 paper money is very filthy and extremely dangerous to handle, as on it 

 may be found any and all kinds of disease germs known to science. 

 Many people, especially women, have a dread and horror of dirty money 

 and often insist on clean bills when getting change; yet cashiers and 

 bank tellers very seldom think of the filth on the money, and they have 

 no aversion for it. Physicians often seem eager to blame our currency 

 for the spread of disease or the cause of death, especially when it is 

 difficult to find out the true source of infection. 



The frequent occurrence of diphtheria and tuberculosis led me to 

 be especially interested in attempts to find Bacillus diphtheria? and the 

 tubercle bacillus on money, and thus prove it to be one medium for 

 the transmission of these diseases. The soiled money used for this 

 study was the dirtiest I could obtain from various sources, such as 

 railroad, trolley and theatre ticket offices, banks, drug stores and indi- 

 viduals in different parts of the state. Some of the bills were much 

 more worn than others, being very soft, cracked and soiled, with frayed 

 edges. 



Each bill was thoroughly brushed in twenty-five cubic centimeters 

 of sterile physiological salt solution, the work being carried on under 



