422 APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY 



731. Tonsillitis. The tonsils (p. 193) are often full of deep holes 

 and pockets, in which disease germs may collect and grow. Then the 

 holes may become filled with thick matter, so that the tonsils seem to be 

 spotted with whitish points. These spots are a sign of tonsillitis. Every 

 case of tonsillitis is infectious, and should be treated like a severe cold. 



732. Diphtheria. Diphtheria is an extremely danger- 

 ous disease whose . germs usually start to grow in the 

 tonsils, and there form a whitish patch which looks like 

 a scab on the skin. Sometimes the disease looks like a 

 mild tonsillitis, so that it can hardly be recognized. If a 

 patch covers the tonsils, or if it extends beyond the tonsils, 

 the disease is almost certainly diphtheria. 



The germs of diphtheria produce toxins which are ex- 

 tremely poisonous to the heart, so that death often results 

 from the disease. The toxins usually make the throat sore, 

 but sometimes they paralyze the nerves so that no pain is 

 felt, and there are no signs that suggest a throat trouble. 

 Then the disease may not be noticed until it is too late to 

 be cured. Yet if the disease is severe, any one can easily 

 see the patches by looking into the throat. The disease 

 usually occurs in children, but grown people may also 

 take it. 



733. Prevention of diphtheria. Germs of diphtheria are 

 long-lived, and are hard to kill. They are found in everything which 

 comes from the nose and throat of a person who has the disease, and 

 they may rise as dust from anything on which they have dried. They 

 are likely to be shaken from bedclothes, handkerchiefs, and clothing, 

 and to settle on the carpets and furniture. So every person who has 

 diphtheria should be closely quarantined (p. 410). At the end of the 

 disease the room and everything which the sick person has used should 

 be disinfected and made free from the germs in the most thorough man- 

 ner (pp. 387 and 411). After the sick are entirely well they should not 

 mingle with other persons for at least two weeks, for a few germs may 

 still remain alive in the throat. The only way to be sure that no germs 



