The mothers are at the helm. They must be the harmonizing factor in the home, and they must bring their human ships into safe harbors. The storms and the battles of life will only unite the crew together if the "captain" is the right "man" in the right place. CHAPTER XXVIII "All that I know, I owe to my mother." Abraham Lincoln. HOW WE CATCH DISEASE We Catch Disease--How Germs Enter the Lungs--How Germs Work in the Body--The Function of the White Blood Cell--How an Abscess Is Formed--The Evil Habit of Spitting in Public Places--Sunlight and Germs--Why It Is Necessary to Open Windows--Facts About Tuberculosis--The Tendency to Disease--The Best Treatment for Tuberculosis--Consumption Is a Preventable and a Curable Disease--When Delay Is Dangerous--What to Eat and Wear in Hot Weather--Scientific Dressing--Drink Plenty of Water--What to Drink When Traveling. A simple explanation of how we "catch" disease may be interesting and profitable. Let us take, for example, a case of consumption. In order to "catch" consumption it is necessary to breathe into our lungs the germ of consumption. How do we "catch" these germs? If a consumptive patient spits or expectorates on the street, or on the floor of a railroad car, or in a room, or store, or theater, after a time the spittle becomes dry, and because of the wind or a breeze which may be caused by opening or shutting a door, or it may be the skirts of women walking about, the dried sputum in which the germs are becomes mixed with the dust of the air. If we happen to be around, just at the particular time when the germs are blown into the air, we may breathe into our lungs enough of them to produce consumption. If we are in good health, and if we do not happen to get too large a dose of the bacteria at one time (and that is only a matter of luck), we can overcome them, as will be shown shortly. If, however, we are not in good health, if we are just recovering from some serious or depressing disease, such as Grippe, the bacteria will overcome our reserve vitality, and consumption will graft itself on our weakened system. How do these germs work?