HOUSEHOLD BACTERIOLOGY 



they should be kept wet, then the -germs cannot easily 

 be spread about except by flies. 



Lockjaw An exception to the usual characteristics of disease 

 producing germs is a bacillus which is common in the 

 soil of certain localities, the germ of the usually 

 fatal disease known as tetanus or lockjaw. Fig. 43. 

 The living germ or its spore is carried into the warm, 

 moist tissues through a wound in the skin. This us- 

 ually is made with some sharp object which has come 

 in contact with the ground, as a nail, a rake tooth, 

 a pitch-fork, or a dirty knife. 

 It has been known to follow 

 the bite of an insect. Unlike 

 most disease germs, this bac- 

 terium forms spores which 

 makes it very tenacious of life. 

 Its spores will resist boiling or 

 drying for some time. It is 

 said to have been found in gun- 

 powder which would account 

 for the many cases of lock- 

 jaw resulting from gunshot 



wounds. As a result of celebrating the Fourth of July 

 in 1903, 415 deaths from lockjaw occurred in the 

 United States. This number dropped in 1904 to 105, in 

 1905 to 104, and in 1906 to 89. This decrease was 

 brought about through the proper care of wounds and 

 the use of tetanus antitoxine. Wounds should be 

 cleaned thoroughly and not bound up tightly, as the 



FIG. 43. The Bacillus 

 of Lockjaw. 



