Table of Infectious Diseases. Date of characteristic Whole Incubation lasts symptom. duration. Mumps 7 to 20 days 1st day 7 days or less Whooping Cough 2 to 7 days 7 to 14 days 2 months Diphtheria 1 to 12 days 1 to 2 days 1 week to 1 month Erysipelas 2 to 8 days 1 to 2 days 1 week to 3 weeks Varioloid 10 to 13 days 1 day 1 week to 3 weeks Chicken Pox 12 to 17 days 1 day 4 to 7 days German Measles 1 to 3 weeks 1 day 3 to 4 days Measles 12 to 14 days 4 days 7 to 9 days Scarlet Fever 1 to 7 days 1 to 2 days 7 to 12 days Typhoid Fever 1 to 14 days 7 to 8 days 3 to 5 weeks Smallpox 10 to 14 days 3 to 4 days 2 to 4 weeks SCARLET FEVER. Definition.--Scarlet fever is an acute infectious disease, with a characteristic eruption. Modes of Conveying.--The nearer a person is to a patient the more likely one is to take or convey the disease. Clothing, bedding, etc., may retain the poison for months. Scales from the skin of a patient, dried secretions, the urine if inflammation of the kidneys (nephritis) exists, the discharges (feces) from the bowels, are all means of infection. The longer a person remains near the patient the more likely he is to convey the disease. Foods handled by those sick of the disease, or by those who may have been near patients may convey the disease. This is especially true of milk. Epidemics of scarlet fever have been started by dairy-men who had scarlet fever in their family. I once attended a family where the only known cause for it in that family was a long-haired dog of a neighbor who had scarlet fever in the family. The dog was in the room with the sick ones, and visited the neighbor's family and played with the children who afterwards came down with the fever. Discharges from the ear, caused by scarlet fever, are said to be capable of giving it. [168 MOTHERS' REMEDIES] Remains in the Room, how long?--It may remain for months in a room, and extend over two years as recorded by Murchison. We do not yet know how the poison obtains entrance to the body. Hence, the need for thorough disinfection. Age, Occurrence, Susceptibility.--All children exposed to the disease do not contract the disease. It is less contagious than measles. A person who is exposed once, and does not take it, may take it at a future exposure. It occurs at any age and in all countries. It occurs oftener in autumn (September) and winter (February). Isolated cases occur, and then it is called sporadic. This disease attacks nursing children less frequently than older children. It is not often seen during the first year of life.