Unclean Money.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 80, 8 April 1904, Page 4

Unclean Money.

ANTHRAX AND TYPHOID LURK j IN THE SHILLING. Generally speaking-, people do sot realise the fatal connection which exists 'lx'tween microbes and Mammon. Last month, however, the Lancet sounded a warning note suggesting that, banks should make a point of washing all money v- ia L passes through their hands. "The two-shilling piece is the happiest hunting ground for bacilli," said a West End 'doctor. "The shilling is nearly as had, ami any coiu that is milled round the edges has additional hiding places for gerriw. "Such diseases as erysipelas ami pityriasis versicolor may readily he transmitted through coins, and a well-known French physician hus obtained in this way cultures of every known bacillus from anthrax to typhoid fever. "As to precautions, the average person cannot do better than 1111 his purse with powdered boracie acid. The coins enter the powder in a greasy condition from contact with the glands and pores of the hands. The powder adheres to this, and turns the dirt into a mildly antiseptic, mixture which will preserve its qualities for weeks after being removed from the purse. "When one sees the way coins are placed in the mouth by ladles, omnibus conductors in search of change, aitd children, it is really surprising that coins are not responsible for more disease than they are. "There is another fact that may lie accounted for by the germ-laden coin. Men are more liable to skin diseases of the face than women This might well be attributed to their habit of carrying coins in the trousers pocket. The bacilli remain on the lining of the pocket* and every time the hand goes into it it Incomes infected and carries the mischief to the face."-