ase and sorrow. He also found that
these plants are different from the plants in our gardens, for they grow
best in dark, damp places where there are warmth and the kind of soil
suited to them.

These plants never blossom, but they grow and make more plants of the
same kind.

When father wants to grow more cotton he plants cotton seed, does he
not? He always sees that the ground or soil is well prepared for the
seed.

Our bodies are the soil or ground, and these little rod-like plants are
the seed of consumption. Persons who have delicate bodies and who live
in damp, dark places, and who do not eat good food furnish the best kind
of soil on which these plants will grow. They grow and make more
tuberculosis seed just as the cotton grows and makes more cotton seed.
Strong, healthy bodies are poor seed ground for consumption seed. They
do not grow well but shrink up and die just as cotton seed would if
they were planted on stony ground instead of nice mellow earth.

You have seen some plants that you were told not to handle or taste
because they were poisonous. Well, these little tuberculosis plants that
I am telling you about are more poisonous than the plants that you can
see.

If they get on cups from which you drink, and into your milk or any
other food, they may get into your bodies. If you think, I am sure that
you will remember some of your friends who have consumption.

You remember, Mary, you told me of your little friend, Lucy Stevens, who
has been ill a long time, and who is quite lame. She has to use crutches
to walk with because her hip is diseased. Uncle John says this is
because she has tuberculosis of the hip joint. It is strange, but often
after these little plants or seed get into the body, they may travel to
any part of it, and set up house-keeping for themselves in a gland or a
joint. They usually find their way to the weakest part of our bodies.

PART II

Uncle John says that the only cure for consumption is plenty of fresh
air, good food, and the proper amount of rest. He says that patent
medicines are fakes and do much harm.

You can, each of you, do a great deal to prevent these plants or seeds
from getting into your bodies and into the bodies of others by following
these simple rules:

1. Remember that fresh air and sunshine are necessary to good health.

2. Remember that cold or damp air will not do harm if the body is kept
warm.

3. Breathe through the nose only. Avoid dark, cro