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of a consumptive person, but on the other hand, phlegm infects.
everything upon which it falls—handkerchiefs, books, papers,
linen, floors, carpets, mats, roads, pavements, railway stations,
carriages, omnibuses, or other conveyances. Consequently, the
filthy habit of indiscriminate spitting should be unhesitatingly
condemned.
the fatality of consumption.
Consumption (with other forms of Tuberculosis) causes one
death in every eight in this country. Of all the deaths in the
United Kingdom between the ages of 25-35 nearly one-half are
due to Consumption. During 1898 the deaths in England and
Wales caused by Consumption alone were 41,335.
predisposition to become consumptive.
People in good health usually resist infection. But all can
be rendered liable to it by getting into a low state of health.
Among the chief causes which favour infection are the following—Overcrowding,
cramped positions when at work, breathing
the stuffy bad air of ill-ventilated rooms and houses, dirty, dark,
damp dwellings, bad or insufficient food, intemperance, and other
infectious fevers and illnesses.
The children of consumptive persons are often predisposed
to take the disease, though they are rarely born with the disease.
consumption is preventable.
Consumption is preventable, for it is contracted only in
ways which can be easily prevented, in part by the sufferer, and
in part by the care of those who live with him.
(1) Destruction of Phlegm.
The spit of the consumptive being the chief cause of the
spread of consumption, it is essential for the protection of their
own families, and to prevent the spread of the disease among
the general public, that the following simple precautions be
taken by consumptive persons:—