THE STORY OF THE BACTERIA. 8 1 



extremely annoying to the victims of the 

 disease and their friends as well as to all 

 immediately concerned. But some such under- 

 standing must be come to, unless people are to 

 go on needlessly dying from this most im- 

 portant disease. 



The best way of disposing of the sputum oi 

 consumptive persons, which, if allowed to dry, 

 may, as we have seen, become the source of 

 active danger to himself as well as to others, is 

 by burning. 



It may be received into small cheap wooden 

 or pasteboard boxes, which are now made and 

 sold very cheaply by the druggists, and which 

 at frequent intervals, together with their con- 

 tents, should be burned in the stove, furnace, 

 or fireplace. When handkerchiefs or cloths 

 are used to receive the material coughed up, 

 these should be either burned as early as 

 possible, or soaked for several hours in a five per 

 cent, solution of carbolic acid and then boiled 

 and washed. But the use of handkerchiefs and 

 cloths is to be avoided for this purpose as 

 much as possible, because they afford most 

 favorable conditions for the drying and distribu- 

 tion of the infectious material. 



