30 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 42 



have not kept equal pace with the changes in his dwelUng. In con- 

 sequence he sees no harm in overheating his house in cold weather^ and 

 closing all cracks in it to prevent the entrance of cold air, destroy- 

 ing in that way nearly all ventilation. He visits freely dwellings 

 where there are consumptives, and is in turn visited by such patients, 

 in his house. It is not uncommon to find, especially in some of the 

 tribes, a closed and heated room filled with visitors, all of whom ex- 

 pectorate on the floor, about the dwelling, and wherever they happen 

 to go. Subsequent cleansing is always more or less imperfect, and 

 thus, in the course of time, even the best dwellings are almost sure to 

 become infected with tubercle bacilli. In dwellings of the less ad- 

 vanced types the conditions are even worse. But the danger of 

 infection from expectoration is particularly great in houses provided 

 with earthen or sand floors, such as are still common among the 

 Sioux and the Mohave. The healthy and the unhealthy spit freely 

 on these floors, the sputum being usually covered with a pinch of 

 sand or earth and thus remaining. Its removal is at best rare or in- 

 complete, and often, as in the pole-and-brush shelters built on sand, 

 impossible. Various articles, as bags, qiults, blankets, etc., used 

 alternately by different members of the family, and occasionally given 

 away, are never washed or otherwise cleaned. In the course of time 

 these must become impregnated with the infected dust, if not soiled 

 with direct expectoration, and in this way propagate the disease. 

 The tuberculous are in no way isolated. They eat with the same 

 utensils as the rest of the family, and these utensils are not properly 

 cleansed. They sleep with others until the symptoms of their disease 

 become too annoying. Their soiled clothing is in no case washed 

 separately. They visit their neighbors freely, and with rare excep- 

 tions they are permitted to expectorate anywhere without restriction. 

 During these visits various articles, as pipes, spoons, and dishes are 

 passed around, without cleaning, from the mouth of the consumptive 

 to healthy mouths. Pipe passing is particularly in vogue among the 

 Sioux. White consumptives come freely into contact with the Indians. 

 Finally, bugles or other wind instruments and sometimes water 

 cups, never sterilized, pass from mouth to mouth. Infection through 

 these last-named sources is amply proven by the finding of numerous 

 tubercle bacilli in most of the mouthpieces of the musical instruments 

 examined on the expedition. Infection through actual contact of the 

 lips need not be considered, because of the rarity of kissing among 

 Indians. On the other hand, danger from utensils is greater than 

 among whites, for the Indians still have here and there wooden 

 spoons and basket or gourd dishes, which are more difficult to clean 

 than metal or porcelain articles. All these conditions create, even 

 among those Indians who live in the most modern dwellings, chances 

 of infection unequaled in whole communities among the white 

 people. 



