eces around the stables, so very
common in many districts, should be absolutely forbidden. Around the
house where individuals have lived who have the disease every care should
be taken to prevent contact with the earth in the neighborhood of places
where the ground might have become infected. It would be advisable for
children and others to wear shoes for at least a year after the last
individual having the disease was cured; and as a precautionary measure
it should be insisted upon that properly constructed privies or
water-closets should be at every house, and that they should be used by
everyone in whom there is a possibility that the disease exists.

DIPHTHERIA AND ITS TREATMENT.

Loeffler's discovery in 1884 of the germ of diphtheria, and its relation
to the disease of the same name, established the specific infectious
nature of this malady, and demonstrated beyond a doubt that membranous
croup is not ordinarily an independent affection, but is almost always
simply diphtheria of the wind-pipe. The discovery of antitoxin, some time
later, reduced the mortality of diphtheria from an average of 30% to 10%
in ten years; its use has also shortened the course of the disease, and
decreased greatly the frequency of the paralytic conditions that not
uncommonly follow this malady.

_Character and Course of Diphtheria._--Diphtheria is an affection caused
by a bacterial microbe which produces a poison that acts locally upon the
tissues invaded, and also, as a result of its introduction into the
general circulation, brings about more or less profound effects on the
entire system.

The period of incubation is from two to ten days. The onset is generally
characterized by a rise of temperature from 100 deg.F. to 104 deg.F., chilliness,
headache, and pain in the back and limbs. Albuminuria is common. The
glands of the neck often become swollen. In mild attacks a slight sore
throat is all that is complained of. In the majority of cases the disease
attacks the throat and tonsils, and is characterized locally by the
appearance of a membrane, which is usually gray or yellowish-white,
elastic, and adheres tightly to the surface upon which it lies. At
times, however, the membrane is soft and pliable, and is easily separated
from the tissue; such cases are frequently diagnosticated as follicular
tonsillitis. A bad cold is occasionally the only symptom of the disease.
The diagnosis should always be confirmed by bacteriologic examinati