The evening times., 1898-04-04
THE LEAD PENCIL.
ID Helps 10 Spread ContaSious Dis
eases

The apparently harmless act of borrow
! ing a lead pencil is being recognized b,
/ the medical faculty as a prolific means
of propagating disease. Many people still
cling TO the time-honored practice o
moistening the writing end of the penci
in the mouth before proceeding to write.
The practice Of borrowing pencils I.
now believed TO be responsible for many
cases of diphtheria and tonsilitis which
could not otherwise be accounted for
Physicians have, therefore. begun tc
warn their patients against putting the
points of lead pencils in their mouths be.
fore they write.
The practice of swapping and bor-
rowing lead pencils is more common
among children than adults. The spiri,
of camaraderie which makes pupils grow
"chummy' and social in the public
schools sometimes causes lead pencils 10
become common property among groups
of school children. a child who is re-
covering from any throat disease might.
therefore. be the innocent means of COM
municating the malady to its companions.
\ well-known throat specialist. who has
practiced in the hospitals of New York
and Brooklyn, said yesterday:
Physicians are now beginning to give
their attention to the cause and preven.
ton of diseases more than ever they did
before. The rules of common sense are
being instilled into the parents of young
patients, and a doctor of today when
called to attend a child puts its parents
through a very rigid cross-examination
rs fa fl., hul Of hfc l.
is often found that the disease has been
communicated by some harmless act
which most people would not notice
Children are very democratic. pupil
at a school will moisten lead pencil in
his mouth and begin TO write. "A COM
panion will borrow the pencil, and the
first thing he will do in nine cases out of
ten will be to put the borrowed pencil
in his mouth. | have traced several cases
of tonsilitis and diphtheria 10 TINS cause.
which at first sight appeared ineXplica-
BILE Even the seeds of consumption may
be sown by this means"
Regarding the habit of mostening the
pencil before writing the superintendent
of large pencil factory said yesterday:
1T is a mistake to suppose that moist
ening the lead Of a pencil makes il write
better. 1t spoils the pencil as it hardens
the lead, yet people will persist in the un-
cleanly habit of thrusting borrowed pen
ellis i'm their mouths.
Imagine the indignation of a pretty
young girl. brought up among refined
surroundings if a typical BOwery lodger
proposed to kiss her. Yet ! have a case
in mind where a fashionable young lady
who went on a Summing expedition in
the Bowery thrust a lead pencil in her
mouth which had just been used by a
lodger in one of the 15-cent lodging
houses. | was told of it by the proprietor
Of the place. The lodger had Just regis
tered his name. using a pencil which
hung by a string, first moistening the
lead in his mouth. The Summing paaty
then came in. and the young lady who
wanted to make an entry in a note book
seized the swinging pencil, and before
any one could prevent her, thrust the
point into her mouth. When people think
of happenings like these they should
think twice before moistening lead pen
ellis in their mouths"