Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-14

" JlLL klSSing be tndictedF Arc
Wv laws really to J passed pro-
hibitlng the practice as insani-
tary?
I The suggestion would once have
seemed like Joke, but more than once
official movement has been made in this
ominous direction. Health officer Som
ers OF Atlantic City is not the only pub
| lie guardian who has raised warning
hand and science has again sent out a
loud note of warning. DR.. Nalpasse of
the medical faculty of Pc Is and physl-
clan to the Persian legation Constan-
tlnople, charges the kiss with respon-
siblllty for spreading the grip, scarlet
fever measles, mumps, scarlatina,
whooping cough, typhoid yer, erysipe-
las, meningitis, tuberculosis diphtheria
and the many infectious LESSONS of the
skin, such as boils and carbuncles.
Fearsome and terrific indictment thisl
But the learned physicians confess the
hopelessness of securing n conviction.
They might as well try to abolish love
as kisses, even though this even
handed Justice commends the ingre-
dents of our polson'd chalice to our
own lips"
1t is not so much the "1, lg long kiss
kiss of youth and love," or the kiss
snatched hastily from the sdelong
maid" of which poets have immemor-
ially sung, that these men denounce,
for they say that adults are generally
strong enough to resist successfully the
baneful assaults of the myrlads of bac-
terra that lurk in the kiss; but 1t is the
mothers kiss, the caress given to the
baby, that comes in for their most Bit
ter denunciation.
"Who kissed the place to make It
we'll? My mother" No! they cry, she
kissed the place to make 1t tester; to
bring gangrene, blood poisoning, death.
Hear DIR. Nalpasse on this:
Adults may escape the evil conse-
quences of the kiss. They are strong
and able to repel disease. But the deli
cate organism of an infant Is helpless.
The culture of microbes is rapid when
the victim is weak. A malady may be
at work, yet it may give no sign until
fully developed, and even when devel-
oped the cause may be hidden for a
time. The victims may appear to be
in good health even while the internal
evil is making ravages to end in death.
The germs of scarlet fever, measles,
whooping cough, the typhoid fevers,
meningitis, erysipelas, tuberculosis-in
a word many diseases due to microbes
are transmitted by the supposedly in
offensive kiss"
Babies don't like to be kissed; any
good nurse will tell you that. They
don't know what kissing means and no
one can wonder at their not liking it.
AS a rule savages don't kiss, either,
but they have similar methods of ex-
pressing love, such as rubbing noses,
which are open to about the same OBJ
jections as kisses.
Health officer Somers of Atlantic
City has convinced himself that kissing
and la grippe go, like lovers, hand in
hand 1,oS 11n11ct1o1lU
prevalent this winter and most of us
have believed it to be due to the un-
seasonable weather. DR.. Somers. how
ever blames it on the prevalence of
kissing and has issued a solemn warn
ing in the following words:
ain view of the rapid spread of grip
throughout the city and in view of the
known fact that osculation. commonly
described as kissing, is the most fruit
full agent of the propagation of the
grip germ, 1t is advised that temper
ance and moderation in respect to said
practice be more generally observed"
Chief Inspector Peck and the board
of health are to ask the city council for
special appropriation not for steriliz-
ing kisses, but for printing and warn
ing and posting it in railway stations,
trolley cars and other public places.
They realize the uselessness of posting
porches. where most of the kissing is
done. for the youths and maidens of
Atlantic City are so reckless that they
would "kiss till the COW cones home"
right under the eyes of the mayors
own anti-kissing proclamation.
DIR. Nalpasse writes of "the scourge
consecrated by the ill-advised accept
ance of the weak mimicry of custom
called the kiss, but we can take pre-
caution and do our best to counteract
it's undeniable dangers" True lovers
will ask: Has this man red blood in
his veins? Has he ever known what 1t
was to cry, with Tennyson:
o love! o fire! Once he drew
With one long kiss my whole soul
through
My lips as sunlight drinketh dew
Instead of poetry-to which kisses
belong-he deals in secretions, telling