DUST AND ITS DANGERS. 103 



A little thoughtful consideration of the facts 

 and principles which have been set forth can- 

 not fail to result, under ordinary circumstances, 

 in an improved sanitary condition of the places 

 in which we so largely spend our lives. 



We are just entering upon a new epoch in 

 our knowledge of disease. The discovery of 

 the bacterial origin of so many of the infectious 

 diseases, which have hitherto been as myste- 

 rious as they were fatal, has placed us on a 

 higher plane, so that there is a good hope that 

 in the not distant future we may not only in 

 large degree limit the spread of these diseases, 

 but even learn some reliable means of cure for 

 them. We have in our hands to-day as we 

 have seen the means of prevention in large 

 measure of consumption provided the simplest 

 dictates of cleanliness be followed and the same 

 may be said of typhoid-fever, diphtheria, ery- 

 sipelas, blood-poisoning, and several other in- 

 fectious diseases. 



It is because medical science is raising itself, 

 in the light of our new knowledge, to the higher 

 plane of the general prevention of the infec- 

 tious diseases, that we are hearing so much 



