122 HOUSEHOLD BACTERIOLOGY 



An interested man adds the bit of information which 

 may inspire others to experiment, possibly with success. 

 He says they "have often in Kansas tried to pre- 

 serve figs by canning them but thus far we have failed. 

 Had to preserve them in sugar." 



An affirmative answer must certainly be given to 

 the pertinent question : "Do not tooth brushes and 

 wash cloths contain microbes?" They certainly do 

 unless carefully cleaned. The former should occasion- 

 ally have a bath in borax water. The latter should be 

 well dried daily in the sunshine, if possible, and fre- 

 quently boiled. There need not and should not be the 

 putrid brush and the sour cloth. The sponge is a very 

 difficult article to keep sweet and clean by common 

 methods. The cloth is certainly much to be preferred 

 from the standpoint of cleanness. 



The suggestion is not a bad one that "gloves be 

 worn always while shopping." We may suggest that 

 these gloves might well be washable. 



How much healthier our homes would be if we 

 would take the advice of Mrs. W. and "do away with 

 the unnecessary ornaments, merely dust collectors 

 . . . . dispose of them and train the eye to sim- 

 plicity and healthful emptiness." Along the same line 

 is Miss G's decision : "I have been very much 

 tempted of late to give up my rugs and mattings and 

 use carpets, but I feel now that it would be taking a 

 backward step." It would be better, if it were pos- 

 sible, to do away with the matting which unless the 



