The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1917-01-09
I 4. + 4. 1. i 1. !. 4. 4. I. !! + +
!. DISEASE GERMS IN BOOKS i.
i. j. j. !. i. i 4. j. + i i !! !. i
New York SUM-

paralysis his intensified the unwhole-
some dread OF disease germs with
which the public mind has long been
obessed The health authorities are
cndeavoring to educate the public In
the matter Of cleanliness, which Is
inimlcal to the propagation of these
germs. Addition OF the hands before
eating has been especially insisted
upon In this propaganda. A similar
cleansing after soiling Of the hands
needs not to be emphasized. Unfor-
tunately the majority Of people do not
realize the Importance OF these simple
precautions, while on the other hand
there are many persons with whom
disease germs are bette r0ir. They
see death and sickness lurking every
where and like the thief who sees 9
policeman behind every bush," they
live In constant apprehension OF
germs. To these timid individuals {
recent article in the Journal of the
American Medical Association on
Bacteria on Paper Money and Books
may bring comfort.
The Sun has endeavored to present
only the most reliable scientific aspect
of the subject of germ diseases. be-
cause the usual hasty congratulations
of science and baseless assertions
which continually appear in print UNI
der the guise of scientific Authority
sooner or later redoomed to the dis
credit of real prograss. An unwar-
ranted scepticism is aroused and the
distrust Of an obvious misstateinent
unconsciously becomes magnifed into
a reactionary Indifference to the bet
ter contributions of scientific men.
The championship of half or conjec-.
tured truths inevitably acts in the
course Of time as barrier to the very
objects which are sought in public
reforms, for the end truth always
prevails.
Some years ago The Sun called at
tention to the erroneous idea that tu-
berculosis may be contracted by per-
sons using the telephone mouthpiece
which has been used by many others.
We showed that the postmaster gen.
eral Of Great Britain had the mouth
pieces on the telephones under his
control examined bacteriologiically,
with the result of no disease germs
being discovered upon them. The
Journal comments upon the popular
opinion of few years ago that the
handling of soiled paper money was
extremely dangerous on account OF
the bacteria that may adhere to it n
fact Is that bank tellers do not share
this aversion, nor do they present evil
dence of exceptional liability to infec-
tiOus diseases. 1t has been positively
asccrtained and published in the Pop
ular Science Monthly that paper
money constitutes an unimportant fac
tor in the transmission of disease.
While clean paper money satisfies our
aesthetics sense, it has not been
proved that soiled money is likely to
become medium of disease transmits
sion.
With regard to books. it is the GUS
tom to disinfect them, when soiled, by
exposure to sunlight and air, but it is
a fact that the hygienic laboratory of
John Hopkins hospital has not found
germs of diphtheria. for instance, on
books coming from homes in which
children had been suffering from this
disease. The fact is that the majority
of bacteria found on books are the
same as those found in atmospheric
air. and that the colon bacterium
which is frequently found on the hands
of school children, has rarely been
found on the books they handle. There
is really no material risk involved in
the reissue Of books recently read by
consumptives, unless the books are
obviously soilcd and even then the
risks are very slight. Since, however,
bacteria like the typhoid and dvph-
liberia organism have been occasional
ly discovered on artificially infected
books, there may be good reason for