22 DISEASES SPREAD BY SALIVA. 



excessive in those who stammer. It is very different in different 

 individuals. 



In the experiments, M. Koniger found that within an hour all the 

 germs had become deposited, most of them within ten minutes or so. 

 Before that the germs, or bacilli, were found to be held suspended in 

 minute droplets or globules of saliva too small to be seen without the 

 aid of the microscope. The larger bacilli, such as those of turbercu- 

 losis (consumption), are carried a smaller distance and fall to the 

 ground sooner than the lesser bacilli, such as those of influenza or 

 pneumonia, etc., and hence contagion from the latter is the more to be 

 feared and guarded against. He found that the simple act of placing 

 a handkerchief before the mouth in the case of tuberculosis was suffi- 

 cient to prevent the emission of saliva droplets charged with bacilli, 

 but in the case of pneumonia it was necessary to wear a mask made of 

 fine wool gauze over the face in order to prevent the dissemination. 



During a surgical operation, said M. Koniger, no one should 

 ever speak. 



It is well known that disease germs often, even in well persons, 

 lodge in the mucus of the mouth and throat. Repeated chemical 

 analyses, made at the laboratories of any of our leading hospitals, of 

 saliva from the mouths of persons having a slight sore throat or a little 

 cold, and otherwise perfectly well, showed the presence of abundant 

 active diphtheria bacilli, and, in some who had developed but a slight 

 cough, the germs of the dreaded pneumonia. It is now recognized 

 that in such cases, while the persons themselves may not develop the 

 disease at all from the presence in the mucus of their throats of these 

 bacilli, yet they are capable of giving the contagion to others who may 

 be at that time in a condition of susceptibility. 



The health boards of nearly all large cities have found it necessary 

 from time to time to warn the public against spitting in public places, 

 because they had found that the mucus thrown from the throat in the 

 act of expectoration, when dried, consisted in active and more or less 

 dangerous colonies of disease microbes, and that numerous serious dis- 

 eases were directly traceable to this cause. In short, it is now claimed 

 that this is the greatest cause in the world for the spread of contagious 

 diseases. 



Expectoration should always be into a moist place or into water. 

 In that case the bacilli cannot rise into the air to be drawn in by the 

 breath and perhaps lodge in the passage of the nose or throat and 

 start a " germ culture " which later develops into a disease. 



M. Koniger found that frequent washing of the mouth or garg- 

 ling greatly diminished the number of bacilli susceptible of being 

 detached, and thus washing and gargling have a value in contagious 

 diseases. He found that in most cases the habit of always holding a 

 handkerchief before the mouth when coughing or sneezing greatly 

 diminished the liability to disseminate germs or spread contagion. 

 This is especially true of ordinary coughs and colds, of pneumonia, 

 diphtheria and other kindred diseases. As the result of his experiment 



