The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-02-20
DR.. McDonald's Address.

DR.. ]. T. Mcdonald made a brief
summary of the situation in tubereu-
losis eases, and in the course of his
speech paid a glowing tribute to the
memory of DR.. Francis r. Day, whose
sreseareh and study on the subject of
tuberculosis first called the attention
of the College Club to the matter. DR..
Mcdonald s address was masterpiece.
and it was clearly rendered. He said
in part:
1t has been proven that bacilli in
masses of dried sputum kept in cool
dark place may retain their virulenee
for as long as six to eight months.
Sputum that is completely dried, SO
that particles arc capable of floating
,, in the air, as dust. may be infectiye
for eight to ten days. To dry heat
they are highly resistant, being able
! to withstand temperature of loo deg.
c for an hour. When, however, sus-
or milk, death occurs in fifteen to
| twenty minutes at 60 deg. c. Boiling
for FIVE minutes completely destroys
the vitality of the bacilli; they are not
affected, however, by extreme cold.
Another strong point to be insisted
npon in anti-tuberculosis education is
this-that every case of consumption
has been caused, or caught, as the
term is, by. bacilli from the body of
some other consumptive. Heredity
cuts little or no figure; after all the
study and research expended on the
subject, there are on record today, the
world over, not a score of well-au-
thenticated eases of parental tubercu-
losis, SO that all talk of child being
| born into the world with the disease
8 in its system is largely mythical. He
may be born, it is true, with weak
and unresisting constitution, furnishing
a suitable soil for tuberculosis or any
one of many other maladies, but will
the disease itself, almost never.
"How, then, does the bacillus gair
! an entrance into the body of new
host to begin its deadly work9 What
| are the channels of infeetion2 Al
though every organ and tissue of the
human body may be invaded by the
| tnbercle bacillus. as is well known, the
| lungs constitute by far the most com
mon seat of attack. First and fore
most as a route of entrance, then
/ stands the respiratory tract. The tn
| bercle hacilli are discharged from thu
| BODY of the consumptive in enormous
| numbers in the sputum, and even, o.
| well-marked cases, in minute droplet'
| of moisture or mucous, which are pro
| iected into the air by the act OF sneez
ing. coughing or even talking. Tuber
eulosis sputum in the moist state |
ordinarily innocuous; it is only whel
| allowed to dry and then to be pulver
| lied by sweeping or otherwise, and DIS
seminated into the air as fine dust
that there occurs the maximum OF dan
ger to the person breathing that dust
| Herein lies most important fact 10
the widest publicity in the education
of the masses against tuberculosis. An
This broad fact is not one OF theor.
or supposition merely; it is based upol
the soundest experimental and cliniea
evidence. The disease has been pro
dneed artifcially time and again i
rabbits. guinea pigs, rats and mice /
lust this way, and there is elinieali
the overwhelming evidence in the fft
ouencv of tuberculosis of the lung
among men exposed to just such mar
ner Of infection in rooms, Offices, put
lie conveyances and workshops ff'
| ouented by ,consumptives.