and unwashed brother, and for my little act of circumspection I
gained his ill-will. However, on the next occasion the cup came direct to
me from the lips of a good-looking young woman and I remember that I did
not take the usual precautions. This shows how inconsistent I was. I have
since learned that some of the most virulent germs are to be found in the
mouths of young ladies of the "Gibson-girl" type.

When I was necessarily obliged to quench my thirst at a public
drinking-place I drank up close to the _right_ side of the handle of the
cup, as I thought that would be the spot least contaminated. In order not
to breathe any more germs than I could possibly avoid, I kept away from
theatres and places where motley crowds assemble and shunned dust and
impure air as I would a leper. I had read that there was on the market a
sanitary mask to be worn when going to places where there was the greatest
danger of coming into contact with germs, but I did not think that I could
work up sufficient nerve to appear in public muzzled in this way. I knew
from reading how many million microbes of different kinds there are
inhabiting every cubic inch of air, and it was indeed appalling to think
what even one of them would do for me if it chanced to hit me in a
vulnerable spot. I did the best I could and kept my windows open wide both
day and night, that some of these little imps of Satan might ride out on
the breeze. _On a cold day I would sit shivering with my overcoat and
heavy wraps on, while the wind was blowing a hurricane through any room._
At this some of the neighbors were wont to smile, but when they rather
intimated that I was a little off I reminded them that Columbus and all
other men who lived in advance of the times were regarded as hopeless
lunatics.

[Illustration: The wind was blowing a hurricane through my room.]

One evening when I went to bed with my windows open as usual the weather
was quite warm, but the temperature suddenly fell during the night and I
chilled, in consequence of which I nearly had pneumonia. After that I
thought it best to exclude some of the elements and try to put up with the
germs. I went to the other extreme of avoiding fresh air. My main reason
for doing so was that I read that one could become immune to his own brand
of germs--the kind that constantly live in your own house and eat your own
food. I thought this seemed reasonable, on the same principle that parents
can get used to the