This most insidious and deadly disease is caused by a tiny vegetable growth derived from persons or animals already suffering from tuberculosis. The spit of a consumptive patient swarm with such germs, and when it dries and becomes dust, the germs may be stirred up and breathed or may mix with food e.g. milk, and so enter the body. A dried handkerchief may also carry the infection. But these germs, though continually carried into the lungs of almost all, do not develop in all. The healthy body can resist them, and it is only in the body which possesses little resistance, owing to a low state of health, that they take root, and so starts to operate.

THE TREATMENT

• Unlimited fresh air and good nourishing food foods are the only cure if the patient can afford it. This means simply breathing every mouthful of air as pure as it can possibly be obtained. Sleeping outside of house, with both the left and right side completely open, and with protection only from the rain, with abundance of clothing, and, if necessary, hot water jars to supply the required heat, is strongly recommended, and every hour of the day, as far as possible, should be spent in the open air, reclining or taking gentle exercise.

• The food to be taken should be nourishing and abundant. Plenty of milk, butter, and eggs should form the basis of the diet.

• The bed on which the consumptive patient lies should not be in a corner, but out from the wall, so as to admit of cleaning and ventilation. The curtains and carpets are dust catchers; reduce the number of such articles as much as possible. In the event of a death from consumption, the room occupied by the deceased should not be used again until it has been thoroughly disinfected. The floor and woodwork should be wiped with damp dusters, and then eroded with soap and water. If the walls are decorated, the paper should be well damped, stripped off, and burnt. If the walls have been white-washed, it should be renewed with lime wash, containing a quarter of a pound of chlorinated lime to the gallon of lime wash. The bed covering, pillowcase, blankets, and sheets of the patient’s bed should be steeped in boiling water and then washed.

• Consumption is often associated with sores on the neck or other parts of the body, which are extremely difficult to heal. The sores should be soaked in warm weak acetic acid daily and to be dressed with olive oil. If not cured by this simple means, then it will be greatly made less severe.

• The rapid pulse and extreme fever, which accompany advanced and rapid consumption, may often be greatly made less severe by cooling applying cooling cloths over the heart. Sponging over the whole body with vinegar or weak acetic acid will also greatly refresh the patient. It may be done under the bedclothes, so as to avoid all possibility of shivering. Cold cloths over the heart and chest, if they cause chillness, may be accompanied with fomentation of the feet and legs.

• The temperature of a consumptive patient should be recorded three times a day, and if its above normal, the patient should stay in bed till it is reduced. And when the temperature is reduced, gentle exercise will be very beneficial. And also increasing to walk gradually should be taken each day.