The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1908-09-10
THE CUP OF DEATH.

| the cleansing Is lnsuIHclenG, is re-
sponsible for much communication
Of disease was recently the subject
of striking article in a popular
magazine. This topic is now treat
ed in a scientific periodical by Pro-
fesso1 Alvin DAWSON, of Lafayette
College. His article is entitled,
death in School Drinking-Cups, !"
and is contributed to The Tech
nical World Magazine (Chlcago,
August). The chief avenue by
which bacteria enter the body,
Professor Dawson tells US, is the
mouth. The air, food, water, and
especially the drinking-cup are the
usual means by which the disease.
producing parasites are transfer
red from one person to another.
He goes on:
"The evidence condemning the
! use of the common drinking ves-
sells upon any occasion, whether at
school, church, or home, Is derived
from three sources: /. The fire.
quent presence of disease-produc-
ing bacteria in the mouth; 2, the
detection of pathogenic germs on
the public cups; and 3, the dis
covery that where a number of
persons drank from a cup previ-
ously used by the sick, some of
them became i'll.
"Recent Investigations show
that the germs of diphtheria and
grippe frequently remain from one
to three months in the mouths of
the patients after they have recov-
cred from the disease. The very
extensive and careful observations
of the Minnesota State Board of
Health demonstrated that in over
half of thediphtheria cases virulent
germs remained in the nose and
throat Of the patients three weeks
after recovery. Most careful ex-
amlnations by expert bacte1iolo-
gists show that many of the COM
mon sore Threats are really light
cases of diphtheria. Of the 2,038
mild sore tbroats examined in the
school children of Hartford, Conn.
sol were shown to be due to the
true dfphtheria germ. The bacilli
now universally employed in the
making of diphtheria antitoxin
we're first isolated from a mild ore
throat Bacteria which in one
person cause only slight illness
may when transferred to another
individual produce serious disease
and death. This widely different
effect of the same germ may be due
to the variation of the germ-kill.
ing power of the body tissues, or
it may result from new association
| with other germs.
ut is an established fact that
considerable number of we'll per-
sons harbor in their mouths the
germs of grippe, pneumonia, diph-
liberia, and tonsilitis. Examina-
ton of A ,250 persons by the Mas
sachusetts Association Ct the
Boards of Health showed that over
one hundred of them carried in
their mouths virulent diphtheria
germs. Pennington in 1907 found
virulent diphtheria bacilli in near
ly 5 per cent. of large number of
apparently healthy school chill
dren in Philadelphia. In Mime
sofa, true diphthe7ia germs were
found in the mouths of seventy
persons In every thousand examin-
ed. The average results of a large
number OF. Investigations demon
lstrate that nearly l per cent. of
we'll persons carry in their mouths
true diphtheria germs. In Boston,
80 per cent. of all cases of com.
mon catarrh examined showed the
presence of grippe bacilli. Con-
siderable evidence is at hand show
ing that the germs of sore throat,
pneumonia and bronchitis are
present in many people who
mingle with the we'll and drink
from the public cups.
During the past six months
have investigated by means of d.
rect microscopic examination, by
cultures, and by guinea-pig injec.
tions, the deposits present on vari-
GUS public drinking vessels. Cup
| No, l, which had been in use nine
days in a school, was clear thin
glass. 1t was broken into a num-
Der of pisces aud properly stained
for examination with a microscope
magnifying l 900 diameters. The
human cells scraped from the lips
of the drinkers were SO numerous
on the upper third of the glass that
the head of pin could not be
placed anywhere without touching
several of these bits of skin. The
saliva by running down on the in
side OF the glass had carried cells
and bacteria to the bottom. Here.
however, they were less than one
i l..