The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-12-28
CONSUMPTION, WITH REFERENCE
TO HOUSE TO HOUSE TRANS
MISSION.

In a former article published in
"The Hustler" 1 made a statement
that consumption is not commune
able disease in the sense OF being
transmitted from house to house by
aerial transmission. I have reached
that opinion by reading and by per-
sonaI observation of the disease in the
individual for the past eight or ten
gears. I have combined with it, a
knowledge of bacteriology and ply
sizes the latter, so far as it has to do
with disease tranmission. Possibly a
few quotations from medical literature
might give a clearer proof OF the
truth of my position than does just
the doGmatic statement have here
tofore made. Understand me to mean
by "a erial tranmission," the germs
Of the disease being blown from house
to house, as in scarlet fever, d1pithe-
ria etc.
To quote from an article Of my own,
published in q medical journal in
June 1909:-"It IL hardly necessary
to say that the tubercle bacillus has
no motion of it's own accord, and that
it's being carried about by the winds
is very limited at most. We find in
fected air only and solely in the in
fected room of the careless consump-
tive, and we find it then only follow
ing the pernicious habit of dry-clean-
ing" In another portion of that same
article l stated: "The Tubercle Ba-
cillus is not found floating about In
the air around. or near the home OF
the consumptive, even if the consump-
tive should be careless one"
If this be true, 1t Is evident that the
disease can not be transmitted from
house to house by aerial tranmission.
If we are to contract the disease from
another, we must either go into his
room which he has carelessly infect
ed, stir up the dust, and during the
few minutes the dust will remain in
the air of the room, must breathe into
the body sufficient infection to pro-
duce the disease. Or the consump-
tive must come into your house, care
which, under the same circumstances,
you may inhale the Injection.
There is a medical work known as
"NothnagePs Encyclopedia or Prac-
teal Medicine" composing several
volumns, and is accepted as one of
the highest authorities in the entire
world. One volume is devoted entire
ly to the subject of tuberculosis, or
consumption, in all of its phases. In
this volume, which is better known as
Comets Work on tuberculosis" l
find the following statements, which
should give some idea as to the cor
rectness Of my personal opinion con-
corning aerial transmission of tuber-
culosis from house to house,"
Cornet writes:-"On theoretical and
practical grounds, the belief in the
ubiquity (Which means the presence
everywhere) of the tubercle bacillus
| may be considered absolutely dis
credited. The tubercle bacillus is
found, as rule, only in places In
which an uncleanly consumptive main
tains himself; otherwise it occurs but
rarely" Another quotation from the
same authority: "The danger of infec-
ton in the open plays no very alarm
| ing role. In the open, ia the dust OF
streets, it has hitherto been impossi-
BILE, in spite Of numerous trials, to
| find tubercle bacilli in places protect
ed from direct expectoratfon. This
assumption is confirmed, as / showed
at the time, by the fact that street
sweepers who brethe this dust con-
tinually very rarely affected with tub
erculosis, even though they follow
their arduous occupation for years;
and subsequent investigation by the
author gave the same results for
coachmen."
Cornet also writes SIT appears,
fhnrnfnrn fhof k11h ho
cilli occur in virulent condition only
in dwellings, institutions, factories,
hotels, in proportion as they are oc-
cupied by consumptives. But even
under such circumstances, the infec-
tice area was relatively narrow be-
cause the markedly Microscopic quail
ity Of dried, sticky, mucln-rich sputum
and of the mucin-hich becilK oppose
to a certain extent fine subdivision
and wide dissemination One more
quotation from Cornet: cit is, OF
: course, true that bacilli are found es-
pecially and almost exclusively in
places occupied by uncleanly con-
Sumptives."
Turning from Cornet, 1 ind Latham,
another worldwide authority. and
Medical Director or BromptoA HoSpi-
Gal aA London. writing 1T iW q we'll
known fact that the tubercle bacilli
are never found in the air where tub
erculoSiS people have not resided, and
are seldom found in the air even Of
houses inhabited by consumptive peo-
PIE. Thus, Cornet and others have
been unable to detect the bacilH in
many public places, whilst Flugge
(another worldwide authority states
that the air of a tuberculous patients
bed room can seldom be shown to be
infectious, and that the floating dust
must be present In clouds, as in the
case, for example, in factories or
when rooms are swept
To illustrate the narrowness of the
area OF possible infection l will cite
the observation Of EngeImapnS an.
other worldwide authority. It is as
*