448 SANITATION 



cause death. The discharges from the nose and mouth 

 are very infectious; so is the dead skin ("scales"); which 

 the patient " sheds" for some time after recovery. No 

 one recovering from the disease should be allowed at 

 large until the last traces of scaling have disappeared, or 

 he will scatter the infection broadcast. Measles is 

 infectious from the very first. It "breaks out" not only 

 in the skin, but in the mucous membrane of the mouth, 

 throat, and air passages. The eruption has a charac- 

 teristic "measly" odor. The after-effects of measles are 

 often very serious, for the disease leaves the throat and 

 lungs weak, so that there is danger of pneumonia and 

 consumption. It also weakens the eyes. Hence the 

 patient should not be allowed in a bright light, and 

 he should not be permitted to read until he has fully 

 recovered. 



Pneumonia (nu-mon'ya) i s one of our worst diseases, 

 especially in cities. It is caused chiefly by one kind of 

 germ, called pneumococcus (nu'-mo-kok-iis), which may 

 grow in any or all of the air passages. Pneumonia attacks 

 many of the larger animals, and these may infect man. 

 The germs are carried from one patient to another in the 

 sputum, and in the discharges from the nose. The germs 

 of pneumonia have been found in the throat of most per- 

 sons, even of those that are healthy, but they are held in 

 check by the body's resistance. A severe cold, some 

 sudden exposure, or a weakening of the body, may give 

 them their opportunity (cf. 407). It is for us to keep the 

 body in good condition, and to exercise the lungs by 

 breathing deeply of fresh air (cf. 391), so that the germs 

 may not get a secure foothold. The danger in pneumonia 



