DIPHTHERIA. 383 
This done, the quarters occupied by him should be thoroughly cleaned, 
lavishly treated to a solution of corrosive sublimate — 1 to 5,000 —and finally 
to a faithful whitewashing. The meanwhile, and from the first appearance 
of suspicious signs, his mates, if he has any, should be removed from the 
kennels, quartered out-of-doors if the weather will permit, or in a heated 
building if it is not mild enough, and only be returned after their quarters 
have been rendered safe by disinfection, the drains have been carefully looked 
to, and all else about them made right. 
It is scarcely necessary to urge that in cases of diphtheria in the human 
family all pets should be religiously excluded from the sick rooms; not alone 
because they may acquire the malady directly from the patients, but because 
they are acknowledged mediums for its transmission. Indeed cases are on 
record where, beyond doubt, cats from infected homes have, by contact, con- 
veyed the special cause or germ to other cats, and they in turn introduced 
them into the families to which they belonged. Nor is this mode of convey- 
ance a sure one for diphtheria alone; there is abundant reason for the belief 
that it is as certain in many other, if not all, highly infectious diseases; and 
physicians of to-day fully recognize the fact that domestic animals, if admitted 
to the sick, are a menace to the well with whom they may soon afterward 
come in intimate contact. 
Although it has been urged that victims of diphtheria be destroyed, the 
chances are that now and then efforts will be made to cure, hence the means 
that promise best ought to be herein considered. 
Treatment must be promptly applied, otherwise it can be of no avail. 
The victim should be at once put into a room that will admit of good ven- 
tilation, and can be warmed if artificial heat is required. 
The bedding should be of straw, and the floor covered with saw-dust ; 
both of which should be changed daily. 
The air of the room should be kept constantly loaded or impregnated with 
a disinfectant, as advised in distemper. 
The local treatment is of first importance, and if the nose is the seat of the 
trouble it should be treated to injections of the peroxide of hydrogen, the solu- 
tion of which should be as follows: 
Peroxide of hydrogen, three ounces; bicarbonate of sodium, one drachm ; 
water, one ounce. 
The syringe should have a small rubber tube attached, as recommended in 
distemper, and the injection be repeated every four hours or five hours. 
If the disease appears to be in the throat, that should be as often freely 
swabbed with this solution, by means of a small sponge tied to the end of a 
stick. 
When the air passages seem involved, by the means of an atomizer the 
throat should be well sprayed with the same solution every three hours. 
