The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-11-18
THE MICROBES IN DUST

Here is a 52-page pamphlet entitled "How
 to Conserve Public Health. It IS a report or | is physician, inte-3persed with bright con- 1 ments by another medical member of the sen- ate and some quaint interpolations by still a third physician senator.
 quote from tho pamphlet: Not only there microbes of ill omen
 but there are microbes of good omen. There
 cular bacilli. which we inhale daily upon the
 streets. in the homes, in public institutions, and were it not for the resistance we have
 built up in our bodies we would all develop tuberculosis and sooner or later succumb to
 the disease"
 fancy. Any "microbe" that causes disease is of "ill omen," suppose. But no one knows of Q
 microbe: germ. bacterium micro-organizm of good omen," unless one chooses to regard any, thing that does one no particular harm in that light.
 trays his lack of knowledge of medicine when he expresses the morbid fancy that we inhale
 "tubercular" bacilli. He might take an evening off some time and brush up on elementary English, too He will learn that they are called tubercle bacili that tuberculous is the adjec- tive referring to the disease tuberculosis, and tubercuar does not necessarily refer to that disease.
 There is no actual evidence that we inhale tubercle bacilli this erudite senator would
 have us imagine. That is ancient almanac lore.
 Nor is there any reason to assume that we are infected with tuberculosis via germ-laden dust which we inhale.
 | To the best of our present knowledge infec- | tion with tuberculosis occurs usually through | prolonged intimate personal contact with a | CARELESS or IGNORANT individual who has l the disease in active stage and perhaps in a l few instances through the drinking Of raw | milk from tuberculous cows. It is a curious coincidence that one of the | eminent senators featured in the pamphlet has | permitted the use of his name in the promotion of the business of a manufacturer being herald | ed as authority for the morbid notion that household dust is source of much illness. This | narticular gaQget 1 than any other similar device. but probably a | lot of credulous housewives have taken the Dust in ones eyes. ears, nose or mouth is not | pleasant, but assure you there is no need to worry about microbes or germs that float in the | air or fly about on dust.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS l Blarney Butters No Parsnips read your articles nearly every day. They l are very good. Now will you give me a little ad- | vice on the following (pages of history and symptOms). (R. L. D.)
 | Answer-You do not understand what you
 read: can form no opinion about an indiv- | give physician has to do enough guessing | when he personally observes, examines and | studies the case
 | Fingers Restored
 have obtained complete relief from "dead
 fingers" by using hypo as you recommended H your fine column. (Nfiss c. H. FL I Answer--The correspondent probably refers | to the treatment of chronic arsenic poisoning with photographers fixing agent. "hypo" (so- dium hyposulphite or as 1t is perhaps more ! widely known sodium thiosulphate) Daily in. jections of this into a vein are given, but the
 medicine may be taken internally. the dose be- ing 10 or 20 grains in a half glassful of water after food three times daily over period of al least two months. In some cases of chronic
 arsenic poisoning Raynaud's affection ("dead
 does not imply that dead fingers always spell
 chronic arsenic poisoning. The occurrence oi
 so-called "eczema" in such case is additional
 circumstantial evidence that the cause is arsen. ic The young lady's report was made with good
 intention but 1t is of value, because she gives
 no information about her trouble or the treat.
 (copyright 1888. John F. Dille Col