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13
[No. 2.]
ST. LUKE, MIDDLESEX.
PREVENTION OF CONSUMPTION.
Under the term Tuberculosis is included the several forms
of tubercular disease of which the chief are Phthisis, or
Consumption, Tabes Mesenterica (Consumption of the Bowels),
Tubercular Meningitis (Inflammation of the Membranes of the
Brain), and Hydrocephalus (Water on the Brain), and one or
more of these forms of the disease are found to exist in upwards
of 70,000 of the deaths which occur each year in Great Britain
alone. It is infectious in all its forms, spreading from person
to person, or by means of tuberculous food, and is due to the
existence of a germ, microbe or bacillus, the propagation of which
is favoured by the existence of dampness, darkness and dirt,
especially if these are combined with overcrowding or illventilated
dwellings. The most infectious form of the disease is
that known as Phthisis, or Consumption of the Lungs, which is
spread by inhalation of air containing the specific bacilli. The
phlegm coughed up by persons suffering from Phthisis contains
an immense number of these germs, and, while moist, it is
harmless, but when it becomes dry the germs pass into the
atmosphere in the form of dust, and thus infect those who breathe
it. Persons least able to resist the attack of Phthisis germs
are those who are suffering from constitutional weakness or from
diseases which lower the standard of general health, persons of
intemperate habits, those engaged in dusty occupations or living
in overcrowed rooms or under other insanitary conditions, while
the maintenance of the body in good health, temperance and
efficient sanitary surroundings form the best defence against
infection, and it cannot, therefore, be too strongly impressed
that fresh air and daylight (especially sunlight) promptly destroy
the bacillus or germ.
GENERAL PRECAUTIONS.
Tuberculosis is not confined to human beings, but is
common amongst the lower animals, especially cows and pigs,