No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 445 



"How little I knew of the dread typhoid fever 



Which lurked in the water I ventured to drink! 



But since I've become a devoted believer 



In the teachings of science, I shudder to think. 



And now, far removed from the scenes I'm describing. 



The story of warning to others I tell. 



As memory reverts to my youthful imbibing, 



And I gag at the thought of that horrible well. 



And the old oaken bucket, the fungus grown bucket. 



In fact, the slop-bucket that hung in the well." 



I would say then that the first step which every farmer should 

 take to preveiit typhoid from entering his home, is to have the 

 water of his w^ell or wells analyzed both chemically and bacteriolo- 

 gically. Should it prove to be impure, its use should be at once 

 abandoned, no matter how healthy his family may have been in the 

 past. If, on the other hand, it is found to be free from pollution, 

 every possible precaution should be adopted to preserve its purity. 

 It should be so walled up and cemented that no surface drainage 

 can possibly reach it. All sinks, cesspools, dung heaps and pig 

 peiis should be removed at least two hundred and fifty feet from it, 

 if on higher ground or on the same level. At least once a year it 

 should be pumped dry and carefully examined to discover whether 

 any polluting substances, such for instance as dead rats, mice or 

 frogs could have gotten into it, and its walls should be scrubbed and 

 whitewashed. If a case of typhoid actually occurs in a family, the 

 edict should at once go forth that not a drop of the well water should 

 be used for drinking, culinary or dairy purposes, which has oot been 

 boiled for at least ten minutes. No food which has been in the sick 

 room should be eaten by other members of the family. No one 

 should eat or drink in the sick room. Every one attending the patient 

 should wash the hands most scrupulously before eating, and rinse 

 the mouth with a disinfectant solution. All utensils used by the 

 patient should be boiled. The discharges of the patient should be 

 received in a strong disinfectant solution, stirred up thoroughly, 

 and allowed to stand for half an hour, and then taken out and buried 

 at least two hundred yards from the well or any water-course, in a 

 situation where they will not be disturbed for at least two years. 

 With these precautions there is every reason to hope that the dis- 

 ease will not spread beyond the first case. In visiting strange places, 

 unless you have absolute assurances of the purity of the water, use 

 only tea or coffee or cocoa. 



A far less frequent source of the typhoid infection is the common 



house fly. Every effort should be made to keep these pests out of 



the kitchen, dining room, pantries and other places where food is 



exposed. Especially dangerous on this account, is the proximity 



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