The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1855-09-01
tnett which promotes infectious diseases, as upon

tneht which promotes infectious diseases, as upon
the carnations of putrescent matter, such q one
must be selected as is suitable in both respects.
of all the disinfectants known, those which evolve
chlorine are the best. This substance decomposes
the noxious gases by forming with these new com
pounds, and by combining with the organic mole
cules, modiies or wholly alters their nature. Its
use should be general during an epidemic, for its eff
cacy depends mainly upon its continued action and
for complete success its evolution should DO constant
but in limited amount.
One of the best forms is !" Labarrague's Chlorina-
ted Soda" The exposure of small quantities of this
liquid, in saucers, will suffice for parlors and sleep
ing apartments, as the carbonic acid Of the air will
eliminate the chlorine sufficiently fast but in sick
chambers and infected apartments, evolution Of the
chlorine must be fastened by the addition of a little
diluted sulphuric acid. But as the above fluid is
rather costly for constant use, the chlorine may be
obtained by another and much cheaper process, which
consists in the decomposition Of table salt, Chloride
Of Sodium) by ~sulphuric acid and peroxide manga
nese, according to the following process. Take a
common porter bottle, and having prepared a cork
by inserting a goose quill or cane in it put into the
bottle one ounce of peroxide manganese and five
ounces of Liverpool salt mixed well together. You
then add three ounces more Of water and half an
ounce, by measure, Of %sulphuric acid, and cork the
bottle and shake it moderately, and the chlorine
will soon begin to issue from the quill.
Let the bottle remain in each room one hour and
then remove, and shake after each removal, and so
on alternately to every room in the house two or
three times a day. At night set the bottle in a pass
age convenient to the sleeping apartments. As soon
as the chlorine ceases to escape from the quill, which
will be at the end Of about twenty-four or thirty
hours, the contents of the bottle must be empticd,
and fresh ingredients supplied. As a constant evo-
luton of the gas is absolutely necessary in order to
ensure protection, it will be necessary that each fam
lily should be supplied with about two pounds Of the
peroxide of manganese and one Thy measure) of sui.
phuric acid to the month. The salt can be obtained
in the kitchen.
For sinks and out-houses, neutralize and correct
the ef1uvia by the daily addition of disinfecting
powders to the substances which give rise to them.
This powder should consist of equal parts charcoal
dust, dried copperas, powdered and ground plaster.
An ounce of this mixture is sufficient for the daily
excreta of each individual. Where the other ingre-
dients cannot be readily procured, the copperas alone
is a valuable purifier.
During the day, the apartments should be tho
roughly ventilated by keeping the doors and windows
open during sunshine hours.
In all cases, the bed-clothes and wearing apparel
should be saturated with the disinfecting fluid (La-
barraques's) so soon as they are removed from the
patient and given to the washerwoman. If this pre-.
caution is adopted, it will prevent that needless
waste which has followed almost every case Of vel
low fever by consigning the beds and clothing to the
flames.
The above directions are applicable to individual
health; and when, %conjoined with Temperance, the
avoidance of unhealthy diet, personal cleanliness,
proper clothing, ETC., comprise much that can be
done by individuals for their own safety and for the
prevention of the attack and spread of the disease.
1t is not my intention to refer to the general means
to be adopted by the municipal authorities for the
same purpose. 1t is to be presumed that an efficient
municipal executive will enforce the well known
means of ensuring cleanliness of streets by draining
cutters, removing filth and garbage, and disinfecting
them with the proper materials. Timely attention
to the precautions above mentioned, it is believed.
will avert the disease from all our inland towns and
villages.
The theory of the action of chlorine is undoubtedly
correct, as has been verified by the most convincing
experiments and observations.
Respectfully yours, JOHN J.. Glow.
Washington, Aug. 20, 1866.