During the Civil War 205,070 soldiers were killed in both armies. This war lasted four years. During the same length of time there were 640,000 deaths from tuberculosis in the United States. This means that consumption killed over three times as many people as were killed during the same length of time in the Civil War. In some parts of the country one out of every seven deaths is caused by this disease, but the average throughout the country is one death out of every ten. [Illustration: FIG. 64. Comparing 640,000 deaths from tuberculosis the United States during four years with the 205,070 deaths in the Civil War.] [Sidenote: Prevalence of tuberculosis] There are more than 700,000 people sick from tuberculosis every year in the United States alone. Of this number nearly 200,000 die every year. Tuberculosis is a disease that can be prevented. It may take a long time to get rid of it, but it can be abolished. When you think of all the people that are sick from tuberculosis, and of all those who die from it every year, you will surely want to do all you can to help prevent this suffering and death. [Sidenote: Tuberculosis a disease of various parts of the body:] When people speak of consumption they usually mean tuberculosis of the lungs; but tuberculosis is not confined to the lungs. The germs that cause tuberculosis may attack any part of the body, and from one part may go to other parts, setting up a growth wherever they go. [Sidenote: (_1_) Of the throat] Tuberculosis of the throat is a common form of the disease. When the germs of tuberculosis settle in the throat, they destroy the tissues very rapidly and, as a rule, kill the patient much more quickly than they do when they start in the lungs. [Sidenote: (_2_) Of the joints] Another frequent form of tuberculosis in occurs in the knee; this is popularly called "white swelling." It quickly destroys the knee joint and results in a stiff leg. The growth may stop there, but more often it extends from the knee to other parts of the body. Often we see a little boy or girl wearing one shoe with a sole much thicker than the other. This is because one leg is shorter than the other, and we notice that the shortened leg is deformed as well. This condition sometimes results from an injury, but it is far more likely to be caused by tuberculosis of the hip joint. [Sidenote: (_3_) Of the spine] Again we see boys and girls with diseases of the spine, so that they have "hunch backs" or are twisted to one side. These conditions result from tuberculosis of the bones of the spine. [Illustration: FIG. 65. One of the effects of tuberculosis.] [Sidenote: (_4_) Of the glands] Sometimes we see children and grown people with swellings on their necks. These swellings may look smooth, but they feel as if they were made up of little bunches of grapes or plums under the skin. They are almost always due to the growth of the germs that cause tuberculosis of the little glands of the neck.