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On the other hand it has often not been carried out in a way to secure the best
results. Imperfect disinfection invokes waste of energy and material, brings
discredit on the system by exhibiting unsuccessful results, and invokes a false
sense of security with regard to localities which have been incompletely disinfected,
and still contain the living germs of plague.
1. The Commission lay down the necessity for employing a strong and
capable supervising staff, and consider that the officer in charge of disinfecting
operations should possess an elementary knowledge of the chemical and other
disinfecting agencies employed.
2. They think the actual burning down of houses should only be resorted to
in the case of temporary structures of little or no value, or in the case of houses
which are unfit for human habitation.
They condemn the practice of digging up floors with a view to kiln burning
them owing to the risk of infection from the dust, and they consider the complete
unroofing of houses a needlessly drastic measure.
Chemical disinfection ought they think to be resorted to wherever possible.
Of all measures of disinfection it is the only one which, when effectively carried
out, immediately destroys the infective material present in a room, and renders the
room at once practically safe for re-occupation. It must, however, be carefully
borne in mind, that a disinfected room, though it has been rendered fit for imme-
diate re-occupation, is liable to be reinfected by the agency of rats or men.
3. They recommend that disinfection operations should in towns be restricted
to the actual houses in which either plague cases have occurred or dead rats have
been found : where dead rats have not been found they are of opinion that, in the
case of houses containing a number of unconnected families, only the room or
rooms which have been occupied by plague patients should be disinfected ; while
in the case of houses containing only one family, disinfection should be applied to
the whole house.
They recommend that the disinfectant should be applied in ordinary cases
only to the floors and so much of the walls as is in reach of the disinfectors, and to
all recesses and places which might have served for the reception of infected
clothing. They think it unnecessary to take any measures with regard to the
upper parts of walls or to the ceilings and roofs and remark that the impossibility
of compassing by artificial means the devitalization of every plague bacillus, and
the expediency of committing that devitalisation in all cases where it is safe to do
so to the disinfecting agencies of nature, are considerations which ought to bo
constantly present in the mind of the disinfector.
4. They provisionally recommend an acid solution of perchloride of mercury
of a strength of 1 in 1,000, but think that further experiments on the subject of
the cheapest and best disinfectant are desirable.
5. They think that a concentrated solution of the disinfectant in acid should
be made up by some responsible authority. Clear instructions should be issued as
to the quantity of water to be added, and glasses and buckets of a standard size
should be used for its dilution. Instead of pumping or throwing the disinfectant
over the walls, it should be poured over the floors, and the walls should be vigor-
ously brushed down with it, as otherwise it is likely to run rapidly off smooth or
greasy walls without effecting their disinfection. Before beginning disinfection,
the household effects and furniture should be cleared out and placed in the open.
The room itself should be dealt with and then the effects taken in hand. As soon