(2) In the sputum
When people spit on the sidewalk or on the floor, the sputum will of course become dry. Sometimes a lady drags her dress through the sputum on the sidewalk or on the floor; it sticks to her dress and she takes the germs home with her. The sputum of the consumptive is loaded with the germs that cause tuberculosis, and if this sputum is allowed to be blown about with the dust, people will inhale it and thus get the germs into their lungs. Certainly the consumptive should never spit on the sidewalk or on the floor, or in the mine, workshop, or in any place where the sputum may become dry and form dust. Of course he should not fill the air about him with germs by coughing into it; everybody knows that.
Fig. 67. A sputum cup of waterproof pasteboard.
Why everybody should be careful about spitting and coughing
But no man or woman, boy or girl, should ever spit on the floor or sidewalk. In the first place it is bad manners. No person does this who is well brought up. In the second place, we must remember that the consumptive does not like to have others know that he has consumption; this feeling is a part of the disease. If you expect the consumptive to refrain from spitting on the floor or sidewalk, you must help him by your example. You cannot expect him to be the only one to hunt up a cuspidor, when you yourself are spitting on floor or sidewalk. If you expect the consumptive to take the precaution necessary to protect you from this disease, you must take the same precaution yourself.
In the matter of coughing, the same rules hold true. If you expect the consumptive to hold a handkerchief before his mouth when he coughs, you must do the same.
How to avoid spitting on the floor or sidewalk:
Since it is not right that the consumptive should spit on the floor or sidewalk, it will naturally be asked, "What is the consumptive to do with what he coughs up?"