106 THE STORY OF THE BACTERIA. 



spects, in this country are tuberculosis, typhoid 

 fever, and diphtheria. 



The danger of infection with disease-pro- 

 ducing bacteria which we may encounter in 

 the ordinary paths of life lurk, as we have 

 seen, for the most part, either in food, or air, 

 or water. Let us now look at these sources 

 of danger a little more closely. 



Impure Food as a Source of Bacterial Infection. 



We have seen that the meat of tubercular 

 cattle and the milk of tubercular cows, and 

 the same is true of tubercular fowls, may con- 

 tain the living tubercle bacilli, and that if the 

 meat be not thoroughly cooked and the 

 milk not thoroughly boiled, these germs may 

 get into the intestinal canal, and cause dis- 

 ease. The remedy here lies in part in the 

 hands of the health officers, or, when their 

 efforts fail, in the hands of the consumer him- 

 self. A much more rigid inspection of cattle, 

 with full authority to destroy all infected herds, 

 should be at once established. It should be 

 thoroughly understood by every householder, 

 that if this be not done, uncooked meat, of 



