irritated vocal cords, bad voices,
catarrh, bronchitis, laryngitis, and asthma in America to-day demands
summary measures. One can learn to sneeze into a handkerchief, not into
a companion's face or into a room. School children can be taught to
avoid handkerchiefs on which mucus has dried. In the far distant future
we may be willing to use cheesecloth, and boil it or throw it away, or,
like the Japanese, use soft paper handkerchiefs and burn them after
using.

TABLE IX

DEATH RATE PER 10,000 POPULATION, PNEUMONIA AND BRONCHITIS FIVE-YEAR
PERIOD, 1896-1900

England and Wales 22.70
Scotland 27.40
Stockholm 26.70
London 31.20
Berlin 16.10
Vienna 39.70
Christiania 21.30
Boston 30.60
Chicago 24.20
Philadelphia 25.10
New York City 36.60

One child with a cold can infect a whole class or family, thus
depriving the class and family of the top of their vitality and
efficiency without their consent. Because a person is thought a
weakling who lies up for a "mere cold," one is inclined to wish that
colds were as prostrating as typhoid, in which case there would be some
hope of their extermination.

The exclusion of children with colds from school deserves trial as a
check to children's diseases. Many of these "catching" diseases start
with a cold in the head, as, for instance, measles, influenza, and
whooping cough. The first symptom of mumps, diphtheria, and scarlet
fever is a sore throat or swollen glands, which, because they commonly
accompany a cold, are not at first distinguished from it.

The first step for the teacher or mother in reading the index for colds
is to look into the coat closet for evidence of warm clothing and
overshoes, then to note whether the children put them on when they go
out for lunch or recess. Whether "cold" settles in the nasal passages,
ear, or stomach depends upon which is the weak spot. Draughts, thin
soles, wet soles, exposure when perspiring, may be the immediate cause
of the nutritional or respiratory disturbances that give cold germs a
foothold. Adenoids, diseased teeth, inflamed ears, may furnish the food
supply. "There is no use treating children and sending them on
fresh-air trips as long as they have nutritional and digestive
disturbances due to bad teeth, or colds due to adenoids," said a
physician whe