Evening star., 1921-11-09
The Hygienic Purpose of Cooking.

The Hygienic Purpose of Cooking.
The plasmodium which causes ma
laria enters the blood Of the victim
in but one way. through the bite Of
the breed of mosquito called And
pheles. The virus or germ which
causes yellow fever enters the vic
TINS blood through the bite Of an
other breed Of mosquito called Stego-
myia. The plague is conveyed to man
by the bite of flea which in:ests the
fur Of rats and squirrels. Mountain
fever and Texas fever are. conveyed to
man by the bites of ticks. The Afri-
can sleeping sickness (not the So
called sleeping sickness which phy-
sicians know as encephalitis lethar-
sica in America and Canada). is con-
veyed to man by the bite of the tse-
tse fly. $780, : -.
Just as trif1ing wounds inflicted
upon the skin by these parasites open
portal for infection by bacteria,
may not trifling wounds inflicted up
on the lining of the intestine by para =
cites be responsible for other infec-
dicitis was often caused by bacteria
infection implanted in. the trifling
wound of the mucos membrane in or
near the appendix by the threadworm
or pinworm. A great many cases of
appendicitis have been reported in
which the surgeon found at opera
tion masses Of these parasites within
the indamed organ. UnQueStionably
many persons harbor various para
sites. such as pinworms, round worms
or lumbricoids, tapeworms, yet suffer
no disturbance of health therefrom.
Likewise many persons bitten by
mosquitoes. fleas or ticks of the spe-
NJ l. IN =
toned, do not become infected, SIM
ply because the insect has not hap
pened to bite person who was i'll Of
the disease.
So, the injury of the mucous mem
brane lining the alimentary tract by
a parasite may give rise to no no.
ticeable infection.
The invisible microscopic eggs Of
the intestinal parasites are insested
in drinking water or in various raw
foods, or sometimes they are conveyed
directly into the mouth upon unclean
fingers, especially in children. The
manner in which drinking water or
garden vegetables or fruits become
contaminated is through pollution
from human sewage or. in some in
stances, the droppings from animals
which happen to be intermediate hosts
Of parasites of man. This Is quite a
different matter from the contamina-
handling of persons who are car.
riers" of such a disease as typhoid
that is, cooks or other food handlers
who at some time have had typhoid
fever and for months or years after
ward eliminate typhoid bacilli, and
50 are capable Of injecting those who
eat the food handled.
Prof. Metchnikoff advocated and
personally practiced the boiling of all
drinking water as a precaution
against Infection with parasites or in
festton with disease germs. He oh.
served that despite popular notions
to the contrary, it was impossible to
distinguish the boiled from the un-
boiled water by taste. He advocated
and practiced the boiling of all milk
for FIVE minutes. for the same rea-
sons. He condemned the eating Of
raw vegetables in salads. as a too
ready means of transmission Of para
sitic ova or eggs and also of disease
germs; he asserted that washing such
vegetables Is not a sufficient protec-
ton, that they must. be at least
scalded with boiling water. or better
still, boiled like salads. The same
rule he applied to all fruits. save
those like bananas which come in
an aseptic or germ proof skin.