Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1875-03-27
DON'T KISS. THE BABY.

TO 4 DON'T KISS, THE BABY. iaes.
The lpromiscuous kissing of children
is q psstilential practice. We use the
word adyisedly, and it is mild for the
occasion. Murderous would be the
proper word, did the kisses know oil
the mischief which they do. Yes,
madam, Marderoas; and we are speak
ing to you. Do you remember calling
on your dear friend Mrs. Brown the
other day, with strip Of flannel around
your neck ? And when little Flora came
dancing into the room, didn't you
pounce upon her demonstratively, call
her o precious little pet, and kiss her ?
Then yon serenely proceeded to de-
scribe the dreadful sore throat that kept
you from prayer meeting the night be-
fore. You had no designs on the dear
child's life, we know; nevertheless you
killed her! Killed her as surely as if
you had fed her with strychnine or ar
senic. Your caresses were fatal.
Two or three days after, the little pet
began to complain of sore throat too.
The symptoms grew rapidly alarming;
and when the doctor came, the single
word diptherid suficed to explain them
oil. To-day a little mound in Green
wood is the sole memento of your visit.
Of course the mother does not sus-
pect, and would not dare to suspect,
you OF any instrumentality in her be-
reavement. She charges it to mys-
terious Providence. The doctor says
uothing to disturb the delusion; that
would be impolitic, If not cruel; but to
an outsiders he is free to say that the
child's death was due directly to your
Internal stupidity. Those are precisely
his words; more forcible than elegant,
it is true; but who shall say, under the
circumstances, that they are not justif-
able? Remember. .4 .a.
j" Evil is wrought ny want of thought
AS we'll as by want of heart"
1t would be hard to tell how much of
the prevalent sickness and mortality
from diptheria is due to such want of
thought. AS rule, adults have the
disease in so mild form that they mis-
take it for simple cold; and as cold
is not contagious, they think nothing of
exposing others to their breath or to
the greater danger of labial contact.
Taking into consideration the well es-
tablished fact that diptheria is usually
if not always communicated by the d.
rect transplanting of the malignant veg
citation which causes the disease, the
fact that there can be no more certain
means to bring the contagion to it's IA
vorite soil than the act of kissing, and
the further fact that the custom of kiss
ing children on all occasions is all but
universal, it is not surprising that, when
the disease is once imported into COM
munity, it is very likely to become ep-
idemic. ........,. .......-
1t would be hard to charge the spread
of diptheria entirely to the practice of
child kissing. There are other modes
OF propagation, though it is hard to
conceive of any more directly suited to
the spread of the infection or more gen.
eral in its operations. 1t stands to dip
liberia about the same relation that pro-
miscuous hand-shaking formerly did to
the itch. fs., ....
It were better to avoid the practice.
The children will not suffer if they go
unkissed and their friends ought for
their sakes to forgo the luxury for sea-
son. A single kiss has been known to
infect family and the most careful
may be in condition to communicate the
disease without Knowing it. Beware,
then, of playing Judas, and let the ba-
bies alone.-7Scientlfc american.