224 STUDIES IN PHYSIOLOGY 



sorbed into the blood, often with, fatal results. The anti- 

 toxin (Greek anti = against -{- toxikon = poison) treatment for 

 diphtheria, however, has proved to be marvelously effective 

 in dealing with this disease. 



In cases of pleu'ri-sy the covering of the lungs and the 

 lining of the chest cavity (the pleura) become inflamed, 

 the two surfaces rub against each other, and sharp pain is 

 felt in breathing. After a time the pleura secretes an 

 abnormal amount of fluid, which takes up space that should 

 be occupied by the lungs. 



But more to be dreaded than all the diseases we have 

 mentioned, because it is more common, is tu-ber-cu-lo'sis of 

 the lungs, commonly known as consumption. It is said that 

 one seventh of all the people who die are carried off by its 

 ravages. Yet this is a preventable disease. It is always 

 caused by the growth within the lungs of a rod-shaped bac- 

 terium known as ba-cil'lus tu-ber-cu-lo'sis. A man may inherit 

 weak lungs, but he will never have consumption unless he 

 takes into his body some of these germs. Once within the 

 body, and finding the favorable conditions furnished by a 

 weak system, these microscopic organisms gradually but 

 surely destroy the lung tissue unless the disease is arrested. 

 Consumptives, in coughing, often eject masses of this wasted 

 tissue which are swarming with living bacteria. If the 

 sputum falls upon the floor or the street, it soon dries, and 

 the bacteria become a part of the dust driven about by 

 the wind. In this form they are likely to be inhaled by the 

 passer-by, reach the lungs, and so transplant the seed of 

 the disease. The sputum of a consumptive patient should, 

 therefore, be carefully collected in paper receptacles which 

 can be burned with their contents. From the facts here 

 presented, one sees some of the reasons that should lead the 

 public to insist on a rigid enforcement of the rules of the 

 Board of Health with reference to spitting in public places. 1 



1 See " Dust and its Dangers," by Dr. T. Mitchell Prudden. G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. 



