?8 
Books  as  a  Source  of  Disease. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    January,  1914. 
abrasions  of  the  hands  in  cases  of  those  who  have  the  occasion  to 
handle  infected  wools  and  hides. 
Tuberculosis. — The  number  of  bacilli  in  the  sputum  of  a  person 
suffering  from  tuberculosis  is  enormous.  Nuttall  estimated  that  a 
person  moderately  advanced  in  the  disease,  expectorated  between  two 
and  four  billions  of  bacilli  every  twenty-four  hours.  One  having  this 
disease  does  not  at  once  become  helpless,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
patient  generally  spends  a  great  deal  of  his  spare  time  reading,  and 
as  this  disease  usually  causes  the  one  inflicted  to  cough  a  great  deal, 
often  involuntarily,  it  is  but  natural  that  particles  of  the  sputum  will 
be  caught  on  the  paper  of  the  books,  ready  to  be  transmitted  to 
another  victim. 
Dust. — I  do  not  think  that  enough  study  has  been  given  to  the 
bacteria  found  in  dust,  as  far  as  public  institutions  are  concerned. 
Careful  consideration  of  the  examinations  already  made  of  dust  from 
various  sources,  especially  in  the  industrial  trades  during  the  past 
few  years,  will  show  at  once  that  the  health  is  often  affected  by  the 
impurities  found  in  the  air  inhaled,  and  that  the  purifying  of  this 
air  is  of  greatest  importance  from  a  sanitary  standpoint.  Besides  the 
danger  from  exposure  to  the  so-called  diseases,  the  germs  of 
which  are  stated  to  be  borne  in  the  air,  the  pollution  of  the  air  by 
organic  and  inorganic  dust  is  beyond  a  doubt  the  cause  of  a  great 
deal  of  ill-health,  and  death. 
An  analysis  made  by  Prof.  Charles  H.  Lawall  of  dust  collected  by 
me  at  the  State  Library  of  Florida,  at  Tallahasse,  off  of  books  that 
had  not  been  disturbed  for  many  years,  gave  the  following  result: 
"  Ash  (inorganic  material,  mainly  sand),  54.90  per  cent. 
"  Organic  matter  consists  of  much  unidentifiable  matter,  in  which, 
however,  could  be  distinguished  microscopically  the  following :  wood 
fragments,  cotton,  linen,  silk,  wool  (some  of  them  dyed  bright 
colors),  hairs  of  various  kinds,  both  plant  and  animal,  starch  grains, 
spore  and  an  occasional  yeast  cell.  No  evidence  was  found  of 
arsenic  or  mercury  or  other  poisonous  metals  or  their  compounds, 
except  what  might  be  called  a  faint  trace  of  arsenic,  which  was  traced 
by  a  method  so  delicate  as  to  detect  arsenic  in  almost  any  substance 
from  which  it  has  not  been  specifically  removed." 
Dr.  McFadden  and  Mr.  Lunt  seem  to  prove  the  paucity  of 
bacteria  in  very  dusty  air.  The  evidence  otherwise  available  is 
entirely  conclusive  that  the  risk  to  disease  infection  is  much  greater 
indoors  than  out  in  the  open,  where  the  germs  are  exposed  to  the 
