204 INFECTION AND IMMUNITY 



" little dears." Those who are confined to the house 

 by an attack should by all means spit in a metal 

 or porcelain receptacle containing a disinfecting solu- 

 tion, and other members of the household should, as 

 far as is practicable, be kept from their room. Those 

 who are able to go about should have an ample pro- 

 vision of pocket-handkerchiefs and these should be 

 immersed in a disinfecting solution upon their return 

 to the house. 



Fortunately the influenza bacillus is soon killed by 

 desiccation and by exposure to sunlight. An effectual 

 way of disinfecting woollen clothing, stuffed furniture, 

 etc., will therefore be to expose it in the open air. 

 The bacilli in dried sputum do not survive more than 

 twenty-four hours and a majority of them are killed in 

 seven or eight hours. Diffuse daylight also hastens 

 their death. It is therefore unnecessary to resort to 

 the rigid measures of disinfection recommended in 

 diphtheria and tuberculosis, in which diseases the 

 specific germs resist desiccation for a long time. 

 Free ventilation for two or three days and exposure 

 of infected articles in the open air will ensure the dis- 

 infection of the room and its contents. The disease 

 is no doubt largely spread by the minute droplets 

 ejected by the sick in coughing or sneezing, each one 

 of which contains thousands of influenza bacilli. 



