98 BACTERIOLOGY. 



or mucous membranes through close personal contact. 

 While hereditary transmission cannot be denied, no 

 instance has so far been recorded. The infectious 

 material is found in the discharges from the open 

 sores, in the urine, milk, blood, sputum, and nasal 

 secretions. The last are especially infectious. 



The spread of the disease is checked by the seg- 

 regation of the lepers in the communities where the 

 disease prevails. Attendants upon leprous patients 

 should know that the disease is one of the most diffi- 

 cult to contract of all the infectious diseases, and that 

 it is very rare for nurses to be infected while attend- 

 ing cases. Careful attention should be given to dis- 

 infecting the nasal discharges and sputum. 



