Not all water that looks clear and nice is pure. The
"out-houses" must be kept clean, and emptied at least twice each year. In
the small cities, especially, the water should be boiled during the months
when the supply is limited and the wells are low. If more attention was
paid to our water supply to make certain that it was not contaminated, and
to our foods, especially milk, and to keeping our cellars and drains in a
good clean and dry condition, we would have little typhoid fever.
Carelessness is the real cause of this terrible disease. The milk should
be boiled as well as the water when there is an epidemic of typhoid.

[198 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

Sanitary Care of the Household Articles.--Dishes must be isolated, washed,
dried separately and boiled daily. Thermometers must be isolated, kept in
a corrosive sublimate solution one to one thousand, which must be removed
daily. Linen when soiled must be soaked in carbolic acid, one cup of
carbolic acid to twenty of water, for two hours before being sent to the
laundry. Stools must be thoroughly mixed with an equal amount of milk of
lime and allowed to stand for one hour. Urine must be mixed with an equal
amount of carbolic acid, one to twenty, and allowed to stand one hour. Bed
pans, urinals, must be isolated and scalded after each time of using.
Syringes and rectal tubes must be isolated, and the latter boiled after
using. (See Nursing Department). Tubs should be scrubbed daily, canvasses
changed daily and soaked in carbolic acid as the linen is. Hands must be
scrubbed and disinfected after giving tubs or rubbing over typhoid fever
patients. Blankets, mattresses, and pillows must be sterilized after use
in steam sterilizer. I know some people have not all the necessary
conveniences, especially in the country, but the greatest care must be
taken. A professional nurse was once taking care of a very severe case of
typhoid for me. I was continually cautioning her to be more careful of
herself. She did not heed it, and finally took the disease and battled
eight long weeks with it, before there was much improvement. Careful
nursing and a well regulated diet are the essentials in a majority of
cases. Put the patient in a well ventilated room, and confine him to the
bed from the beginning, and have him remain there until well. The woven
wire bed with soft hair mattress, upon which there are two folds of
blanket, combines the two great qualities of a sick bed, smoothness and
elasti