Others, on the contrary, are, as we have seen, from birth unusually susceptible. This inherited susceptibility to the incursions of the tubercle bacillus, should this find lodgment in the body from without, by no means always reveals itself in any apparent lack of vigour or robustness of the body. Still, any habit or mode of life which diminishes the bodily vigour, whether in those predisposed to this malady or in the apparently immune, and gives it a leaning toward disease, diminishes, as a rule, the chances of a successful contest with the bacillus. And so it is that in spite of the wide distribution of these fateful germs in frequented places, and the tendency of certain vulnerable persons to succumb to their ravages, so many people are not affected by them, and so many, although not altogether escaping their malign influence, are yet able to wrest at least a moiety of life from the hand of the great destroyer.
The degree of success which may attend our crusade against tuberculosis will largely depend upon the wide diffusion of the knowledge of its communicability by means of the sputum dried and powdered and floating in the air as dust, and the intelligent persistence with which the morbid material may be safely cared for at its sources. The resolute avoidance by consumptives of the not only filthy but dangerous practice of spitting upon floors or streets, or anywhere else except into proper receptacles; the use of receptacles which may be and are frequently and thoroughly cleansed, and, best of all, of water-proof paper cups, which with their contents may be burned; or, when circumstances require, the receiving of the dangerous material on cloths or Japanese paper napkins, which may be destroyed by fire, and not on more valuable handkerchiefs on which the sputum is allowed to dry while in use or before disinfection and washing; scrupulous care by others of the sputum of those too ill to care for it themselves--these are the comparatively simple means from which we may most confidently expect relief. The details of these precautions and their adaptation to the special circumstances of those suffering from the disease can be most wisely left to the physician, and though of paramount importance, need not further engage our attention here.