192 RESPIRATION 



29. Organic matters exist in increased measure in the ex- 

 pired breath, of sick persons, and impart to it, at times, a 

 putrid odor. This is especially true in diseases which, like 

 typhus and scarlet fever, are referable to a blood poison. In 

 such cases the breath is one of the means by which nature 

 seeks to expel the offending material from the system. Hence, 

 those who visit or nurse fever-sick persons should obey the 

 oft-repeated direction, "not to take the breath of the sick." 

 At such times, if ever, fresh air is demanded, not alone for the 

 sick, but also for those who take care of them. (See Care of 

 Sick-Boom, Appendix.) 



30. Dust in the Air. Attention has lately been directed to 

 the dust, or haze, that marks the ray of sunshine across a 

 shaded room. Just as, many years ago, it was discovered that 

 myriads of animalcules were found in the water we drank, so 

 now the microscope reveals " the gay motes that dance along a 

 sunbeam " to contain multitudes of animal and vegetable forms 

 of a very low grade the germs of fermentation and decay, 

 and the probable sources of disease. 



31. It is found that the best filter by which to separate this 

 floating dust from the air is cotton wool, although a handker- 

 chief will imperfectly answer the same purpose. In a lecture 



6. The True Prevention of Epidemics. "It was in England that 

 solution of the great problem of hygiene was first attempted. ' Pre- 

 ventive Medicine,' it is there called. Palmerston told a deputation which 

 waited on him in order to ask him to order a fast on the approach of the 

 second epidemic of cholera, to cleanse their sewers, and diligently visit 

 the dwellings of the poor. And he did not confine himself to good advice, 

 but, with his usual energy, he laid his hand on sanitary legislation, and 

 purified the air of London and the large manufacturing towns. The 

 result of the sanitary measures carried out was a reduction of the mor- 

 tality of London from 20 to 23 per 1,000, and in some of the towns to 17 

 per 1,000 a low death-rate previously only equalled in the Isle of 

 Wight. More than four thousand lives have been preserved yearly in 

 London ; and, assuming that the mortality among the sick is 1 in 20, this 

 number represents a diminution in yearly sickness to the extent of eighty 

 thousand." Dr. Joseph Seegen in the Vienna Medical Weekly. 



29. The air of rooms in which fever-sick persons are confined ? 



30. Animalcules in the water ? Dust in the air ? 



31. The best air filter ? The remarks of Prof. Tyndall ? 



