The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-10-08
Disinfectants and How to Use Them.

Disinfectants and how to Use Them
The American National Board o
Health. consisting of number of tn
leading physicians and chemical experts
of which Prof. G. +. Chandler is chair
man, have issued the following irstruc
tions for disinfection, intended especially
for the guidance ofphysicians and nurses
in the yellow fever districts. but which
are equally applicable in other cases o.
contagious diseases. In submitting this
report the chairman says:
1t has been the aim Of the committee
to prepare concise directions for disin.
fection 80 simple and clear that they
may be easily followed by any person ol
intelligence.
In the selection of disinfecting agents
the aim has been: lst, to secure agents
which can be relied upon to accomplish
the work; I'd, which can be procured in q
state of comparative purity in every vii.
lage in the United States; Sd, so CHEAP
that they can be used in adequate guam.
titles.
1t is extremely important that the
people should be instructed with regard
to disinfection. They must be taught
that no reliance can be placed on disin.
fectants simply because they smell OF
chlorine or carbolic acid, or possess the
color of permanganate. and that, in gen.
eral, proprietary disinfectants with high
sounding names are practically worth
less, as they either have no value what
ever. or, il of value, cost many times as
much as they are worth and cannot b
used in sufficient quantity.
EXPLANATIONS.
Distinction IS the destruction of the
poisons ofinfectious and contagious dis
eases.
Deodorizers. or substances which de-
stroy smells, are not necessarily disin-
fectants, and disinfectants do not necos-
sarily have an odor.
Disinfection cannot compensate for
want of cleanliness or of ventilation.
I.-DIsNFEcTANTs TO BE EMPLOYED.
l. Roll sulphur (brimstone) for fumi-
cation.
2 Sulrha of iron (copperas) dis
solved in water in the proportion of one
and q half pounds to the gallon; for
soil, sewers, etc.
3. Sulphate of zinc and common salt,
dissolved together in the proportions of
four ounces sulphate and two ounces
salt to the gallon; for bed clothing, bed
linen, etc.
NoTE.-Carbolic acid Is not included
in the above list for the following rea-
sons: 1t is very difficult to determine
he quality of the commercial article,
and the purchaser can never be certain
of securing it of proper strength; it is
expensive, when of good quality, and
experience has shown that it must he
employed in comparatively large guam
titles to be of any use; it is liable by its
strong odor to give false sense Of Sc
curity.
II.-HOw TO USE DISINFEcTANTs.
/. In the Sick -Room.-The most avail
able agents are fresh air and cleanli-
ness. The clothing, towels, bed linen,
etc., should at once, on removal from
the patient. be pliced in pail or tub of
the zinc solution, boiling hot if possible,
before removal from the room.
All discharges should either be re-
ceived in vessels containing copperas
solution, or, when this is impracticable,
should be Immediately covered with
copperas solution. All vessels used
about the patient should be cleansed with
the same solution.
Unnecessary furniture-especially that
Which is stufed-carpets and hangings,
when possible, should be removed from
the room at the outset; otherwise they
should remain for subsequent fumiga.
tion and treatment.
Q. Fun,igation with sulphur is the
only practicable method for disinfect-
ing the house. For this purpose the
rooms to be disinfected must be vacated.
Heavy clothing, blankets, bedding, and
other articles which cannot be treated
with zinc solution, should be opened and
exposed during fumigation, as directed
below. Close the room as tightly rs
possible, place the sulphur in iron pans
supported upon bricks, set it on fire by
hot Goals or with the aid of a spoonful
of alcohol, and allow the room to remain
closed for twenty-four hours. For
room about ten feet square, at least two
pounds of sulphur should be used; for
larger rooms, proportionally increased
quantities.
8. Penaises.-Cellars, yards, stables.
cutters, privies, cesspools. water closets,
drains. sewers, ETC., should be frequently
and literally treated with copperas So
luton. The copperas solution is easily
by hanging basket contain
ing about sixty pounds of copperas in
barrel of water.
4. Body and Bed Clothing, etc.-It is
best to burn all articles which have been
in contact with persons sick with con-
tagious or infectious diseases. Articles
go valuable to be destroyed should be
treated as follows:
q. Cotton, linen, fannels, blankets.
etc., should be trested with the boiling
hot zinc solution, introducing piece by
piece, securing thorough wetting, and
boiling for at least half an hour:
b. Heavy woolen clothing, silks, furs,
stuffed bed covers, beds, and other arti-
cles which cannot he treated with the
zinc solution, should be hung in the
room during fumigation. pockets being
turned inside out and the whole gar
ment thoroughly exposed. Afterward
they should be hung in the open air,
beaten and shaken. Pillows, beds,
stuffed mattresses, upholstered furni-
ture, etc., should be cut open, the con-
tents spread out and thoroughly fumi-
gated. Carpets are best fumigated on
the floor, but should afterward be re-
moved to the open air and thoroughly
beaten.
S. The corpses should be thoroughly
washed with a zinc solution of double
strength, then wrapped in a sheet wet
with the zinc solution and buried at
once. Metallic. metal-lined or air-tight
,offins should be used when possible,
when the body IS to be trans
ported for any considerable distance.
A Journey Under the Earth.
Earlynext year Baltimore will celebrate
he completion ofits water supply tunnel:
rhe tunnel is seven miles in length. and
,l,o,,t t1uolva foot in diameter I1non