Connecticut western news., 1879-09-10
The Spread of Disease.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE OF
 EXPERTS FOR ITS PREVENTION.

EXPERTS FOR ITS PREVENTION.
 The Commission of Experts at Wash ington, appointed by the National Board of Health to prepare circular embody- ing familiar instructions for disinfection, has made 8 report to the Board. The report is as follows
 Disinfection is the destruction of the poisons of infectious or contagious diseases. Deodorizers are not necessa- rily disinfectents, and disinfectants do not necessarily bear an odor. The dis infectants to be used are First, roll sulphur for fumigation second, sul- phate of iron (copperas) dissolved in water in the proportion of one and half pounds to the gallon, for soil, sewers, etc.; third, sulphate of zinc and common salt dissolved together in water in the proportion of four ounces of salt to the gallon for clothing, bed linen, etc. The Commission exclude carbolic acid for the reason that it is difficult to secure the proper quality, and it must be used in large quantities to be of service. In using disinfectants in the sick room, the most available agents are fresh air and cleanliness. The towels, clothing, bed linen, etc., should, on removal from the patient and before they are taken from the room, be placed in pail or tub of the zinc solution, boiling hot if possible. All discharges should either be received 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 stuffed carpets and hangings should, when possible, be removed from the room at the outset; otherwise they should remain for subse- quent fumigation and treatment. Fumi- gation with sulphur is the only practi- cable method of disinfecting the house. For this purpose the rooms to be disin- fected must be vacated. Heavy clothing, blankets, bedding and other articles which cannot be treated with zinc solu- tions should be opened and exposed as directed below. Close the room as tightly as possible, place the sulphur in iron pans, supported on bricks, contained in tubs containing little water; set it on fire by hot coals or with the aid of spoonful of alcohol, and allow the room to remain closed for twenty four hours. For a room about ten feet square at least two pounds of sulphur should be used for larger rooms proportionately increased quantities. Cellars, yards, stables, gutters, privies, cesspools, water closets, drains, sewers, etc., should be frequently and liberaIly treated with copperas solution. The oopperas solu- tion is easily prepared by hanging basket containing about sixty pounds of the copperas in a barrel of water. It is best to burn articles which have come in contact with persons sick with con- tagious or infectious diseases. Articles too valuable to be destroyed should be treated as follows Cotton, linen, han- nels, blankets, etc., should be treated with the boiling zinc solution introduce piece by piece, secure thorough wetting and boil for half an hour. Heavy woolen clothing, silks, furs, stuffed bed covers, beds and other articles which cannot be treated with the zinc solution, should be hung in the room during fumigation, their surfaces thoroughly exposed and pockets turned inside out. Afterward they should be hung in the open air, beaten and shaken,