Never allow any person, doctor or otherwise, to vaccinate you until the skin surface has been well washed with soap and water, rinsed clean, and wiped off with alcohol. See that the vaccine is fresh and has been properly kept. When it begins to "take," keep the spot absolutely clean and covered with a clean cloth, renewed daily. _Never scratch or rub it._ These precautions will prevent the dreaded soreness of the arm. [Sidenote: How people themselves infect their arms with pus germs] The person operated on is himself often responsible for the bad arm. A careful doctor will put a dressing on the arm, after he has supplied the vaccine, and will tell you to let that dressing alone, for he wishes to take it off himself. About the third or fourth day after the vaccination, your arm begins to itch. Possibly you have forgotten what the doctor told you; at any rate, you pay no attention to directions and take the dressing off to scratch the arm. When you scratch the wound, you introduce pus germs into it, and you have no reason to expect anything but a sore arm. In this case, it is not the fault of the vaccinator or of the vaccination; it is your own fault. Never touch a vaccination sore; in fact, it is dangerous to touch any sore. =Questions.= 1. How is a successful vaccination determined? 2. What are some pretended vaccinations? 3. Mention some of the things that cause bad arms after vaccination. =Remember.= 1. A successful vaccination causes a sore identical with the sores that result from smallpox. 2. A fly blister is not a vaccination in any sense of the word. 3. A very sore arm does not result from a properly performed vaccination, but from carelessness on the part of the vaccinator or the person vaccinated. CHAPTER XXXI CONSUMPTION, THE GREAT WHITE PLAGUE Tuberculosis, or consumption, has been known for many centuries. It was known long before Rome was ever heard of. Hippocrates, a Greek physician, studied it, and said that if it were treated in its early stages, it could be cured. [Sidenote: Why consumption is called the Great White Plague] Tuberculosis is called the Great White Plague. It is called the Great Plague, because it kills more people than does any other one disease; the White Plague, because people who suffer from it become so pale and white. [Sidenote: Consumption more destructive than war] It is estimated that nearly 200,000 people die from tuberculosis every year in the United States. This means that in this country there is one death from consumption every two minutes and thirty-six seconds. Is it not fearful to think of nearly 200,000 people dying every year, in the United States alone, from a disease that we know can be prevented? Do you not think that we ought to do everything we can to prevent this disease from spreading?