298 THE WONDERFUL HOUSE THAT JACK HAS 



and washed in boiling hot water. Dishes and other 

 utensils for food should also be reserved for their 

 especial use, and should be washed separately. In 

 short, every possible precaution that may help to 

 prevent infection should be taken. 



At the beginning of the illness, all rugs, draperies, 

 pictures, contents of bureau drawers, and any other 

 favorable lodging places for germs should be removed. 

 During its continuance the room should be cleaned 

 by wiping up the dust with cloths moistened in a 

 solution of carbolic acid, and these should afterward 

 be burned. All instructions given by the doctor in 

 regard to burning bedding and other articles, and 

 disinfecting and redecorating the bedroom, should 

 be faithfully followed, as some germs may be able to 

 cause disease for months afterward. 



Probably all villages and cities have a health officer. 

 One of the most important duties of this official is 

 to see that due precautions are taken to prevent the 

 spread of diseases. Physicians are required to report 

 cases of contagious diseases to him, and he notifies 

 school principals of the houses in which such diseases 

 exist. Children from these homes are then com- 

 pelled to stay out of school until they bring a permit 

 stating that danger of contagion is past. Pupils are 

 excluded from school on account of mumps, whooping 

 cough, and all diseases of the skin and eye, as well 

 as diphtheria, smallpox, scarlet fever, and measles. 

 In the most serious of these diseases the families are 



