=Disposal of Sputum.= The nurse has by this time prepared the way for the prophylactic supplies, which she carries in her bag. These consist of a tin cup, fillers, paper napkins, disinfectant, and so forth. She must teach the patient how to use and dispose of them, as well as their advantages—the latter reason not being always apparent to the ambulatory case. She must teach that danger to himself and others lies in the sputum coughed up from his sick lungs, and that the simplest way to receive it is in the little tin cup, whose waterproof filler can easily be burned. To the advanced case, with profuse expectoration, these light, convenient little cups are a great improvement over the household spittoon, which should be banished at once. Bed patients, or those too weak to raise even this light cup to their lips, may be taught to expectorate into the paper napkins, of which they should be given a large supply. A simple way of disposing of these napkins is to pin to the bedclothes a large paper bag (such as are used for groceries), into which they may be thrown. Failing a paper bag, a cornucopia made of newspaper will answer the purpose, the object being to let the patient himself place this infective material in a receptacle which can be burned in its entirety, without its contents being handled by anyone else. The problem of destroying sputum cups and their contents is often difficult. The proper and only sure way is to burn them, and no other course should be considered. Yet in summer, when many patients have no coal fires, but merely gas or oil stoves, many difficulties arise. Under such circumstances the patient may wrap his cup in a newspaper, place it in a galvanized iron bucket, and then set it on fire. This is a nuisance, as well as somewhat dangerous, and since these fillers and their contents are hard to burn, the simpler method of throwing them in the gutter becomes an irresistible temptation. To see that these fillers are properly destroyed requires constant supervision and instruction and is one of the most important of the nurse’s duties. The patient should destroy the fillers himself—they should be handled by no other member of the family, unless of course he is too weak and ill to do it. Even when very ill, however, it is nearly always possible for him to remove the filler from the cup and place it in a newspaper, which is then rolled up by someone else and carried out to the fire. Needless to say, the nurse must teach those who touch or handle this cup how important it is to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards.