ases of the arteries
offers a good reason for heeding such evidence and taking the safe side
in every controversy regarding it. (See "Tobacco" in SUPPLEMENTARY
NOTES.)

[Sidenote: Germs]

The poisons so far mentioned are limited to the amounts taken.
Infections with germs, however, bring in poisons, the quantities of
which tend to increase with the multiplication of the germs. It is,
therefore, especially important to avoid infections. We should not
depend altogether on the protection of our health officers. We must
guard our own individual bodies.

[Sidenote: Colds and La Grippe Germs]

Infections enter the body through the skin or mucous lining. The common
cold is believed to enter by the nose. We may avoid exposure to
infection from grippe and common colds by keeping away from congested
public places when there is an epidemic of grippe or colds, or when we
are ourselves fatigued or for any reason likely to catch cold.

The infections of common colds are always to be found in the nasal
passages and become active when the individual is subject to fatigue or
indigestion or both. The liability of catching cold is greater when the
mucous lining is injured. Nasal douches are injurious and impair the
protective ability of the mucous membrane. They should be used only on
prescription. A very gentle, warm spray of weak salt and water may be
used when the nose is filled with soot and dust. The fingers should be
kept from the nose. Handkerchiefs should be frequently changed, or
small squares of gauze used and subsequently burned.

[Sidenote: Tuberculosis Germs]

The germ of tuberculosis is probably conveyed oftenest through the
sputum of consumptives, when this sputum has been allowed to dry, has
become pulverized and is breathed into the system. All sputum should be
burned. It is well to avoid rooms occupied by consumptives who are not
careful with their sputum.

[Sidenote: Mosquito-borne Malaria and Yellow Fever]

Suitable wire netting will guard us from malaria and yellow fever, the
infections brought by mosquitoes and flies. The mosquito often carries
malaria, and in the tropics carries yellow fever and other diseases. As
some one has said: "A yard of screen in the window is better than a yard
of crape on the door." The greatest triumph in connection with the
building of the Panama Canal was not the engineering but the reduction
in the death-rate among the workers, which, on account of these
insect-borne disease