"don't kiss the cat"

thanks british library flickr. PD

Don't Kiss the Cat.
It must be a terrifying revelation to those who kiss their cats, that has been made by Prof. Fiocci, the Italian chemist. He has found by experiment that when a cat licks its lips it spreads over them a saliva in which there are swarms of minute bacilli not free from danger to human beings. When he inoculated rabbits and guinea pigs with this noxious substance they died within twenty-four hours; and he has come to the conclusion that it is dangerous for anyone to indulge in the habit of kissing cats.

 -- This advice, which I plan to ignore, comes from Mattie Lee Wehrley's 1916 book Handy household hints and recipes. Louisville, Ky.: Breckel Press.