The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-01-13
A Pestilsnt Practice.

The promiscuous kissing Of children is
a pestilent practice. We use the word ad-
visedly, and it is mild for the occasion.
Murderous would be the proper word, did
the kissers know the mischief they do.
Yes, madam, murderous; and we are speak
ing to you. Do you remember calling on
your dear friend Mrs. Brown, the other
day, with strip Of flannel round your
neck And when little Flora came dane
ing into the room didn't you pounce upon
her demonstratively, call her q precious
little pet, and kiss her2 Then you Sc
renely proceeded to describe the deadful
sore throat that kept you from prayer
meeting the night before. 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 strych-
nine or arsenic. Your carelessness was
fatal. Two or thrae days after the little
pet began to complain Of a sore throat too
The symptoms grew rapidly alarming; and
when the doctor came the single word diph.
theria sufieed to explain them all. To-
day little mound is the sole memento of
your visit. Of course the mother does
not suspect, and would not dare to suspect
you of any instrumentality in her bereaye-
ment. She charges it to mysterious
Providence. The doctor says nothing to
disturb the delusion that would be impo-
litic, if not cruel; but to an outsider he is
free to say that the child's death was due
directly to your stupidity. Those are pre-
cisely his words; and who shall say, under
the circumstances, that they are not justi-
fable? 1t would be hard to tell how much
of the prevalent illness and mortality from
diphtheria Is due to such want of thought.
As a rule adults have the disease in so
mild form that they mistake it for a
simple cold; and as cold is not contagi-
Gus, they think nothing of exposing others
to their breath or to the greater danger of
labial contact, Taking into consideration
the well-established fact that diphtheria
is usually if not always communicated by
the direct transplanting Of the malignant
vegetation which causes the disease, the
fact that there can be no more certain
means of bringing the coutagion to its IA
yorite soil than the act of kissing, and the
further fact that the custom Of kissing
children on all occasions is all but univer-
sal, it is not surprising that, when the dis
ease is once imported into a community,
it is very likely to become epidemic. 1t
would be absurd to charge the spread of
diphtheria entirely to the practice Of child
kissing, There are other modes of prop
agation, though it is hard to conceive Of
any more directly suited to the spread of
the Infection or more general in its opera
tion. 1t stands to diphtheria about the
same relation that promiscuous hand-shak-
ing formerly did TO the itch. It we're
better to avoid che practice. The children
will not suffer if they go unkissed; and
their friends ought, for their sake, TO forego
the luxury for season. A single kiss
has been known to infect a family; and
the most careful may be in a condition to
communicate the disease without knowing
il, Beware, then, Of playing Judas, and
let the babies alone.