324 ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



dishes used by consumptives should be carefully sterilized 

 by boiling. 



The isolation of tuberculous patients and the care that 

 has been taken to prevent the dissemination of the germs 

 of the disease has resulted in a marked diminution of 

 tuberculosis in recent years. With the spread of knowl- 

 edge regarding the transfer of tuberculosis, and with con- 

 tinued efforts to prevent its spread, there is reason to 

 believe that this " great white plague" will finally be 

 exterminated. 



Tuberculosis is usually curable if treated in the early 

 stages. Rest, plenty of nutritious food, such as fresh eggs 

 and milk, and living continually in the open air will, in 

 the majority of cases, effect a cure. 



Typhoid fever is a disease that is carried mainly through 

 food and drink. The bacillus that causes it isunusually 

 resistant to heat and cold, and may live in the water and 

 in soil and sewage for a long period. The germs are 

 especially abundant in the intestine and hence in the 

 excreta of typhoid patients. Where sewage is allowed to 

 discharge into rivers or lakes, the germs are liable to be 

 taken in in drinking water, and many epidemics of 

 typhoid in cities have been traced to the contamination of 

 the water supply. Sewage from one town is often allowed 

 to flow into a stream that forms the water supply of 

 another town farther down. Many cities profiting by 

 costly experience, have instituted filtering plants for purify- 

 ing their water. Some cities situated on lakes have elabo- 

 rate plants for disposing of their sewage instead of pour- 

 ing it into the water that they use for drinking. Country 

 places which derive their water from wells located so that 

 the seepage from privies may flow into them are often 

 afflicted with typhoid. In all these cases the elimination 



