WHAT WE BREATHE 57 



perhaps already suggested the possibility of other 

 bacteria being likewise discharged into the sur- 

 rounding air, but it is no doubt difficult to realise 

 that the utterance of even a few words may 

 liberate a variety of bacteria, the mischievous or 

 harmless character of which depends upon the 

 condition of the speaker's health. But even the 

 health of a speaker if satisfactory is not necessarily 

 a safeguard against his dissemination of disease 

 germs, for it is well known that the mouth 

 secretions of healthy people may frequently con- 

 tain the staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, and also, 

 though less frequently, the diplococcus lanceolatus, 

 both virulent microbes ; whilst that diphtheria 

 bacilli may be present in the mouths of people 

 who are not suffering from the disease has been 

 demonstrated repeatedly. What a capacity, then, 

 for spreading evil does the public orator possess ! 

 It makes one tremble to think of the aerial condi- 

 tion of the House of Commons when a big debate 

 is on, for it has been found that the sharper the 

 enunciation of the consonants, and the louder the 

 voice, the larger is the number of organisms dis- 

 charged and the farther they reach ! 



If this danger attends the speaking of healthy 

 people, what must be the risk accompanying the 

 listening to speeches from persons suffering from 

 consumption, influenza, or any other disease which 



