FUMIGATION.--Many Boards of Health have abandoned fumigation after communicable diseases, except after those which like typhus and yellow fever, are carried by vermin or insects. Dry formaldehyde gas, which was formerly used for fumigation, has a violent effect on mucous membranes, but its power to kill bacteria, even on surfaces, appears to be weak, while its penetrating power is not sufficient to disinfect bedding, carpets, upholstered furniture, and other fabrics. Since fumigation is costly, troublesome, and ineffectual there seems to be no good reason for using it. Moreover, its use gives a false sense of security, so that really effective measures like sunning, airing, and scrubbing are likely to be neglected. Theory and practice of disinfection, it is clear, have radically changed in recent years. Modern knowledge requires concurrent disinfection, or the destruction of germs from the moment when symptoms are first noticed; all the time, day and night, this disinfection must go on with unremitting care. Today wet sheets are not hung in doorways nor are chemicals left about in open dishes to disinfect quite harmless air, but scrupulous cleanliness at all stages of disease is recognized as one of the most important measures, if not the most important measure, in disinfection. EXERCISES 1. Summarize the ways in which infectious diseases are spread. 2. What is meant by the incubation period? State the length of the incubation period in measles; Liberty measles; whooping-cough; scarlet fever; chicken-pox; diphtheria; mumps; typhoid fever. 3. Name some of the early symptoms common to most infectious diseases. If such symptoms appear, what should be done while waiting for the doctor to come? 4. Discuss the importance, prevention, and treatment of common colds. 5. What measures should be taken to isolate a patient who is suffering from a communicable disease? 6. What special care should the attendant of a patient with a communicable disease give to her own clothing and person? 7. Why are the children's diseases more serious in reality than they are commonly supposed to be? 8. Describe the symptoms of each of the following: Measles, scarlet fever, chicken-pox, mumps, whooping-cough, and diphtheria. 9. How should bowel and bladder discharges be disinfected? 10. How should dishes and other utensils be disinfected? 11. How should linen be disinfected? 12. Describe measures necessary for concurrent disinfection. 13. Describe measures necessary for terminal disinfection. FOR FURTHER READING Preventive Medicine and Hygiene--Rosenau. The New Public Health--Hill, Chapters VII-XVII. Essentials of Medicine--Emerson, Chapters XII-XV. Health and Disease--Roger I. Lee, Chapter X-XIV. Disease and Its Causes--Councilman, Chapters V-IX.