42 The Bulletin. 



about wounds should be of freshly washed and ironed material, or of material 

 that has been kept scrupulousily clean. Old linen handkerchiefs and worn bed 

 linen make excellent bandages, and should be kept for the purpose. 



Diphtheria is a germ disease and very contagious. In this disease the germs 

 grow and multiply in the throat, hence to avoid the spread of the disease all 

 drinking utensils should be thoroughly scalded before being used by the other 

 members of the family. In this connection a word about the water-bucket 

 and dipper of our rural schools. No better work for public health can be done 

 by the women of a school neighborhood than to banish the time-honored 

 bucket and dipper and supply the school with a water-cooler which is operated 

 by a faucet, and see that each child has his individual drinking cup. Many 

 of the dangerous and troublesome diseases of childhood could be averted by 

 this plan. 



Typhoid fever is a. disease affecting chiefly the intestinal tract, caused by 

 the presence of a speciflc germ called bacillus tuphosiis. The germ is carried 

 into the intestines with the food — usually drinking-water. Flies also are 

 known to act as agents in the spread of the disease. The source of infection 

 from a patient is through the excreta, which are loaded with living organisms 

 I'eady to produce the disease in others, if by chance they gain entrance into 

 the body. Hence all excreta from the sickroom should be treated with a sub- 

 stance to kill all the germs. Carbolic acid, bi-chloride of mercury, or creolin 

 are recommended. All excreta should be buried with lime and not thrown ou 

 the ground or in the closet, and all vessels should be thoroughly cleansed with 

 boiling water. The nurse should use exceeding care to cleanse the hands 

 before taking food. Flies should be excluded from £he sick-room. Hundreds 

 of germs may be carried on their feet from the sick-room to the dining-room, 

 there to infect the food that other members of the family are to eat. In cases 

 of epidemics of typhoid all members of the infected neighborhood should hoil 

 the drinkiiiff-icater. 



In tuberculosis of the lungs we have a germ disease where the germ invades 

 the lung tissue. Tuberculosis is easily transmitted, and extreme care should 

 be exercised in nursing a tuberculous patient. The patient should not occupy 

 a sleeping-room with other members of the family; all utensils used for food 

 should be scalded after using ; the patient's room should be free from hangings, 

 pictures or carpets or any material that would serve to harbor germs. Small 

 cups to receive the sputum from the lungs may be had, but a cheaper and 

 quite as safe plan is to use a tin can or box containing ashes, or lime, which 

 may be emptied and buried at frequent intervals. All cloths used by the 

 patient about the mouth or nose should be promptly burned. 



Malaria, another troublesome malady, is not produced by bacteria, but by 

 a minute oi'ganism of the animal kingdom which invades the red corpuscles 

 of the blood of the patient and produces chills and fever. 



Malaria is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. Not all mosqfuitoes 

 carry the malarial organism, but in ridding our premises of the mosquito pest 

 we may eradicate the malarial-bearing species. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in. 

 stagnant pools of water, rain-water barrels, or any vessel containing even a 

 small amount of stagnant water. These eggs in a few days hatch into the 

 wrigglers commonly seen in rain-water. After a few more days the wrigglers 

 rise to the surface of the water, shed their skin and emerge full-grown mos- 

 quitoes. Mosquitoes do not fly great distances, so oftentimes attention to 

 pools and utensils containing stagnant water in our neighbor's back yard may 

 rid the neighborhood of this serious pest. 



A word in closing about the alarming use of paregoric and soothing syrup 

 by mothers of young children. These drugs do not relievo the difticulty which 

 makes the baby fretful, they only dull the pain so that the child cannot feel. 

 Constant use of these drugs cannot help but tell ou the mental, physical and 

 moral nature of the child. 



What is true of paregoric and soothing syrups is also true of headache cures 

 and other i)atented medicines used in such astounding quantities by the women 

 of our country. The chief ingredient of these remedies is alcohol and other 

 narcotics, and the stimulation felt upon taking them is only extremely tem- 

 porary and leaves the body in a reduced stale. So that only by a continued 

 use and a constant increased dose is relief obtained. As women, it behooves 

 us to wage war upon this lialnt. 



