sible for all of them enter the body through the nose and throat
and begin their attack upon the membranes there. The action of the germ
is followed by the formation of poisons or toxins which are distributed
by the blood through the body, causing the fever and what are known as
"general symptoms." At the beginning it is not possible to determine to
which particular germ the distress of the patient is due, and probably
the continued prevalence of these diseases is chiefly owing to the fact
that in the early stages and in mild cases throughout, the sufferer is
allowed to be at large with every opportunity for spreading the disease.

_Contagiousness._

If, whenever a child has a cold accompanied by a fever, the mother
would promptly put him in bed in a room by himself, keeping the other
children of the family away from the sick room and the invalid under
restraint until all possibility of transmitting the disease is over, the
number of cases would be greatly diminished. Unfortunately, there seems
to be a general impression that such precautions are useless, and that
sooner or later every child must have these children's diseases. This is
a mistaken notion, and the table already referred to is sufficient
evidence to prove the error of this way of thinking.

All these diseases are affections of the whole body, caused by poisons
generated by germs, for which so far scientists have found no antidote.
The reason is plain. The germ itself is not known, and no animal has
been discovered on which scientists can experiment. If we could only
produce measles in a rabbit, for instance, we could very soon detect the
germ and would no doubt be able to procure an antidote to the measles
poison. But this has not been done, and therefore in measles and in the
other diseases mentioned we can only hope that the sick person will be
able to generate in his own body sufficient antidote to secure his own
recovery. Physicians therefore are almost helpless in treating these
diseases. They keep the patient in bed in order that all his strength
may be kept for fighting the disease. They insist on ventilation in
abundance, so that oxygen may be applied to the lungs in large
quantities in order to neutralize the poison. They advise sponge baths
in cold water and alcohol to allay the fever, and they prescribe
nourishing, easily digested food, such as milk, eggs, fruit, and plenty
of water to drink. In the hope of diminishing the chances of infection,