The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1885-07-10
DisinfectiOn,

1t is not an uncommon error to accept the
neutralizatioh OF bad smells by means Of chem
ical agents, or socalled "disinfectants" as dis
infection. One unpleasant odor is sometimes
replaced by another hardly less repulslve, as
when carboic acid or chlorine have been p!entl-
fully used about a house, and apprehension is
allayed by fatal feeling of security The evil
is still present, however, loading the air with its
poison, and all the more dangerous because OF
its mask. The process that has been undergone
is deodorization, not diSinfection, the latter
term meaning when properly used not simply
the coucealment of bad smells or the arrest OF
decomposition that causes them, but the de-
structlon of the disease germs. The latter can
not be frightened away by chemicals any more
than they can be dispersed by aroyal edict or
military display. AS well attemptto turn aside
an army of locusts vi it'll a fan or rid New Jer-
sey marsh Of mosquitoes by burning lucifer
match. They must be grappled with hand
o-hand contest and killed.
"The only available test of disnfecting power
known to u.s." says Surgeon George NJ Stern
berg of the army, in recent article on "Domes-
tic Distinction, "relate to the ability of the
agents tested to destroy known disease germs
or harmless micro organisms belonging to the
same class the ordinary bacteria OF putre-
faction" TO this writer the terms "disnfec-
tant" and "germicide' are synonymous, and If
it should ever be demonstrated, as seems prob
able that all infectious diseases are spread by
living germs, the methods OF restricting and
controlling them will be greatly simplified and
Strengthened
For the preservation of health in homes and
communities the laws of general sanitation
must first be observed. Defective plumbing is
the cause of more disease than any other thing.
Cess pools, any accumulation of stagnant wa
ter. and vaults are also dangerous, and should
he eradicated as far as possible, especially in
crowded villages or cities. Quarantine is essen
tial for protection against pestilential inroads.
Small pox-and cholera, II recent tests in Spain
prove reliable-may be guarded against by In
oculation Sometimes, however, even after
every precaution seems to have been taken,
home will be infected, and then the well mem
beers of the family may second the doctors eff
forts greatly and also protect themselves and
their neighbors by observing certain rules OF
distinction. Boiling the cotton and linen CLOTH
ing used upon the sick. bed for half an hour to
an hour will effectually destroy all disease
germs adhering. Wooden clothing that has
come in contact with small pox or scarlet fever
patients may as well be burned. The tenacity
which the germs of these diseases have for lie
is remarkable. An interesting illustration OF
this is found in the case OF grlef-strlcken
mother who treasured among mementoes of her
little boy dead with the scarlet fever, the shawl
in which he had been wrapped during his last
illness, Twenty years after, the shawl was
taken from its hiding place and shaken, ana q
, child playing in the room at the time caught
| the fever. But to return to sick-room Gisinfec-
AZ ,lx 1icrharupc of cholera and scar
let fever patients and the sputa OF persons suf-
| fering from diphtherla, tuhercular consumption
| and similar infectious diseases are thoroughly
purified from contagious matter by certain chem
ical fagents, which, however, must be USED
freely.
one as can he found, is chloride Of lime or
| bleochir O powder in solution. The proportion
used for sputa or eXcreta is one part to hfty OF
| water. Liquor s0de chloriaatee, more COM
monty known as Labarraque's solution, is
| another reliable disinfectant. For eflectually
treating alvine discharges or sputa one part TO
| five or six of water is necessary, and the sur
| face of the body may be, safely washed with it
| when it is diluted to one part in fifty. Corro-
sive sublimate is also potent germiclde, Dut IL
| is deadly poison and, as the aqueous solu'lon
| is odorless and colorless, it must DC used Win
| great caution. The proportion OF the solution
is one part to five hundred OF water. 10 ibis Is
| sometimes added permanganate OF potassium,
| the prescription being about two drachms OF
| corrosive sublimate and two of permanganate to
| a gallon OF water-which colors the solution a
| deep purple and also gives it valuable deodor.
| izing property. Furniture, floors and walls OF
| infected rooms may be washed with solution
| of one drachm of corrosive sublimate to the gal
| Ion of water, while theIimmersion OF injected
clsthing in solution of one drachm to five gall
Ions OF water is effective.
The destruction of germs that may spread
disease should be prompted not only by the In
stinct of self-preserva.ion but also by sense OF
| duty towards others. Ignorance of sanitary
principles led typhoid-stricken family living
among the Pennsylvania hills to poison at Its
source the stream that supplied the village OF
| Plymouth with water and cause terrible loss
| of life. Similar careessness in any community
may be the origin of pestilential outbreak. 1t
is imperative, therefore, that the germs OF dis
ease and death should be killed at their earliest
stage-in the sick-room-aLd not given TO the
sewer or cesspool for disseminatlon.-lG
| Housekeeping.