1 7 2 INFECTION AND I MM UNI TY 



dealers in medical and surgical appliances. Those 

 which are made of enamelled iron, tin, or aluminum 

 have the advantage of not being breakable. They 

 should be provided with a cover to exclude flies and 

 hide the contents from view. Pasteboard cups, 

 which can be placed inside of a metal cup with cover, 

 are especially to be commended as they can be re- 

 moved and burned, together with their contents, at 

 stated intervals. 



Pocket flasks of aluminum are made for the use of 

 tuberculous individuals who are not confined to the 

 house. Dr. Knopf, of New York, in his valuable ar- 

 ticle in the Twentieth Century Practice of Medicine, 

 makes the following remarks with reference to pocket 

 flasks : 



" The pocket flask, when properly and faithfully used by the pul- 

 monary invalid, will prove one of the most important factors in 

 the prevention of tuberculosis. It should be carried by the tuber- 

 culous individual all the time and used whenever he cannot 

 conveniently get at the stationary cuspidors. The first pocket 

 spittoon was Dr. Dettweiler's ' Hiistenflaschen.' It is a flask of 

 blue glass about four inches long and six inches in its largest 

 circumference, provided with a hermetically closing top and 

 bottom of white metal, and so constructed that it can easily be 

 cleaned. The lid flies open at a slight pressure on the spring, 

 and after use is closed by pushing the top down again. Since 

 the appearance of this flask many similar utensils have been 

 devised, partly with a view of simplifying the mechanism and also 

 of producing an article cheap enough to be within the reach of 

 every one. 



