1 7 o INFECTION AND IMMUNITY 



block as many as 102 cases have been reported 

 within a period of 4f years and as many as 24 

 cases in a single house." If we were speaking 

 of bubonic plague and the same number of cases had 

 occurred within the same period, the whole country 

 would be alarmed and the most rigorous efforts 

 would be made to eradicate the disease, but "the 

 great white plague " continues to claim its annual 

 quota of from 110,000 to 150,000 victims within the 

 limits of the United States, and the known measures 

 of prevention are either entirely neglected or carried 

 out in a very inadequate manner in a large portion of 

 our great and prosperous country. 



For the prevention of tuberculosis, as already in- 

 dicated, the most essential sanitary measure is the 

 destruction of the tubercle bacillus in the sputa of 

 those suffering from pulmonary consumption. This 

 may readily be effected when the victims of the dis- 

 ease and those associated with them become con- 

 vinced of its importance. For this reason well-informed 

 physicians and sanitary officials consider the education 

 of the public a matter of prime necessity. It is hardly 

 necessary to say that the sputa of tuberculous pa- 

 tients should be deposited in some suitable vessel 

 and never upon the floor or ground. Regulations 

 prohibiting expectoration upon the sidewalks or 

 upon the floor in public vehicles, etc., have been 



