FUMIGATIONS TO DESTROY CONTAGION. 347 



.stopped, and I had the satisfaction to see cures gradually 

 effected, which 1 had before attempted iti vain. Though 

 these fumigations were made in wards full of patients, from 

 the impossibility of avoiding it, and this rendered their 

 more frequent employment necessary, I never found one 

 person complain of them, or sensiblyincommoded by them. 

 It was not the same with those, who entered when the va- 

 pour was already in a state of expansion ; as it brought on 

 these a violent cough, and obliged them to quit the ward 

 immediately. ,, * 



On the Preparatiom and Use of the Phials for removing 

 Contagion, 



The phials for preventing and removing contagion, which Phials for pre- 

 I have mentioned in my treatise, have become pretty com-^" v J"^ eonta^" 

 mon, since they have been kept ready prepared in the shop gion. 

 of Mr. Boullay. In fact it is not easy to conceive any- 

 thing more simple in its preparation,' more convenient for 

 use, and less expensive, considering the property this com- 

 position has of retaining its virtue a long time. I have one 

 of these phials prepared near twelve years ago, and it can- 

 not now be uncorked, without the persons present being 

 immediately sensible of the oxigenized muriatic acid gas, 

 though I have used it on various occasions, ancino addition 

 has been made to it since it was first prepared. This is the 

 property of what I call extemporaneous oxigenized muriatic 

 acid, because it is made in an instant, without the aid of 

 fire or any apparatus for distillation, in short by simple 

 mixture. 



However easy this process is, certain proportions are ne-The ingredients 



vertheless necessary to be observed, in order that the evo- mus . t be accu " 

 J ' rately propor- 



lution of the gas may be sufficiently abundant to be eflica- tioned. 



cious, yet not so rapid as to burst the vessel : and it is ob- 

 vious, that the proportions do not depend simply on the 

 relative quantities of the acids in this case, but still much 

 more on their degree of concentration. 



Several persons, having seen the stopples of these phials 

 rise spontaneously the moment they opened them, Were 

 alarmed, and mentioned it to Mr. Boulay ; who accordingly 

 thought it necessary to dilute the mixture, that it might be 



less 



