The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-02-11
Don't Hiss the Baby.

The promiscuous kissing Of children
/ is n pestilential practice. We use the word
advisedly, and it is mild for the occa-
sion. Murderous would be the proper
word, if the lissers knewthe mischief they
do. Yes, madam, murderous and We are
speaking to you. Do you remember.
calling on your dear friend Mrs. Brown;
the other day, with a strip Of flannel
round your neck and when little Flora
came dancing into the room, didn't YOU
pounce on her demonstratively call her
a precious little pet, and kiss her? Then
you proceeded TO serenely describe the
dreadful sore throat that kept you from
prayer-meeting the night before YOu
had ~ design ON the poor chIld's life,
we know nevertheless, yUu killed Der
Killed her rs sure as ir yOu had fed her
on strychuine or arsenic. Your careless
ness was fatal.
Two or three days efter the little pet
began to complain Of sore throat too.
! The symptoms grew rapidly alarming
and, when the doctor came, the single
word diphtheria sufliced to explain them
all. To-day little mound IS tie sole
memcnto Of your visit.
OF course, the mother does not sus-
pect, and would not dare TO suspect you
of any instrumentality III her bereave-
ment. She charges Il 20 mysterious
Providenca. The doctor says nothing
to disturb the illusion that would be
impolite, if not cruel but to on outsider
he is free TO say that the child's death
was due directly TO your stupidity.
Those are precisely his words and who
shall say, under the circumstances, that
they are not iustidablc Remember
- Evil is wrought by want of thought
As well as by want OF heart
1t would be bard To tell how much Of
the prevalent illness and mortality from
diphtheria is due to such want Of thopqht
AS a rule, adults have the disease IN so
mild form that they mistake IL for
simple cold and aS a cold is not con-
tagious, they think nothing Of exposing
others 10 their breath, or 70 the greater
danger of hbial contact. Taking into
consideration cne well established fact
that diphtheria Is usually, if not always,
communicated by the direct transplant
ing of the malignant vegetation which
causes the disease, the fact that there
can be no more certain means of bring
ing the contagion to its favorite soil than
the act OF kissing, and the further fact
that the custom Of kissing children on
all occasions is all brt universal, It is not
surprising that, when the disease IS once
imported into a community, It is very
likely to become epidemic.
1t would be absurd to charge the
spread of diphtheria entirely 20 the prac-
tice of d-kissing. There are other
modes of propagation, though ii is hard
to conceive OF any more general in it's
operation. 1t stands TO diphtheria III
about the same relation that prOmiscu-
Gus hand shaking formerly did to the
itch.
1t were better to avoid the practice.
The children will not snfTer if they so
unkissed and their friends Ought, for
their sake, to forego the luxury for
season. A single kiss has been known
to infect family and the most careful
may be in a condition to communicate
the disease without knowing it. Beware,
then, of playing Judas, and let the ba-
bies alone. DR.. Hal.