4 preventn-e measures against the spread of tuberculosis 



Education. 

 Knowing tho danger of infection and how it is carried 

 about almost amounts to being able to avoid it. But how is 

 the great mass of people to know V We cannot put a policeman 

 behind everybody to see that he does not expectorate on the 

 floor. The best means of spreading information to the masses 

 is provided by our educational system. Why should not every 

 boy be taught in the public school the salient features of this 

 part of hygiene, how far it is in the power of everybody to 

 prevent the spread of infectious diseases generally. Above all 

 let him be taught that it is criminal to endanger the life of his 

 fellowmen by careless expectoration. A habit thus early- 

 acquired is likely to persist in after life. 



Houses. 



It is not likely that hygienic principles will be exclusively 

 followed in the building of houses. On the whole we are rather 

 fortunate, as far as the spread of tuberculosis is concerned, that 

 most of our private residences are wooden buildings. A brick 

 house, the walls of which are papered, is more difficult to 

 disinfect after having once been inhabited by a consumptive 

 than a wooden building. It is also a consideration, that the 

 latter has a far shorter life than the former, especially when we 

 remember the experience reported by certain authors, who found 

 that certain houses formerly inhabited by consumptives were 

 regular death traps for subsequent lodgers. Having regard to 

 the great disinfecting power of direct sunlight, it is of importance 

 that the sun should have access to the bedrooms during some 

 part of the day. As wood does not retain the heat so much as 

 bricks, the temperature of the bedroom will not be unduly 

 increased in consequence. The difficulty of disinfecting the- 

 papered walls of a room could only be done away with by 

 varnishing the paper. A very important research has been 

 published a few months ago by Heimes, from Loffier's laboratory. 

 It is of great interest for us. He investigated the disinfecting 

 power of different kinds of paints, viz., oilpaint, enamel, 

 distemper and limewash, with the result that bacteria were 

 most quickly killed by oilpaint, while distemper proved least 

 efficient. He found ' the antiseptic power of oilpaint = 100 ; 

 enamel^=40 ; limewash=20 ; distemper=10. Oilpaints should 

 therefore be chosen, where ready disinfection is an object, as in 

 hospitals, schools, public buildings, etc. The antiseptic qualities 

 of the oilpaint are both mechanical and chemical, the latter 



