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In the furtherance of this practicable object, we advise that pamphlets,
which we have drafted, should be issued to : —
(1) Medical men practising within the Borough.
(2) The friends of those who have died from consumption.
(3) Consumptive patients.
(4) The Clergy and Visitors, the Registrars of Deaths, Guardians'
Officials, Officers of Friendly Societies, the Coroner's Court, Post
Offices, Public Dispensaries, Public Libraries, Museums, and Baths,
the Police, etc.
Finally, we believe (a) that consumptive patients who have been discharged
from the hospitals as incurable should be visited from time to time
to insure that all possible precautions are being adopted; (b) that public
lectures by competent men, on the prevention of the spread of consumption,
might lead to a much wider appreciation and application of the acknowledged
facts of the case."
These pamphlets were printed and distributed to those mentioned above.
I.—Suggestions for the Guidance of Consumptive Patients.
1. In the early stages many cases of consumption are curable.
2. The disease is infectious. Careless habits are dangerous both for the
patient himself and also to his friends.
3. It is certain that the phlegm coughed up by patients contains the living
seeds of the disease.
4. Consumptive patients should not, when indoors, spit about the floor,
but into special spitting cups (or pots) containing water. The spitting cups
should be emptied into a bright fire, or into the water closet, but never anywhere
else, and especially not into the dust heap. Out of doors, a pockethandkerchief
may be used, but all handkerchiefs so soiled should be boiled
for at least five minutes before being washed.
5. Sunlight and fresh air are the greatest enemies of infection by Consumption.
The room in which a Consumptive patient lives by day, or by night,
should be well aired, and the windows should be thrown wide open as soon
as he leaves it. I he windows should always be kept a little open at the top,
both by day or by night. The chimneys should not be stopped up. The
floors of the rooms should be kept very clean, and great care should be taken
that no dust remains upon them; they should be cleaned with a wet cloth and
carbolic soap.