254 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



Walls, furniture, etc., are thoroughly sprayed 

 with a 2 per ceut. formaldehyde solution and 

 the room closed for twenty-four hours ; 60 to 

 70 c.c. of the solution suflBces for each square 

 meter of surface. 2. Evaporation of solutions. 

 Clothes are saturated with one pint of formalin 

 solution in which half a pound of calcium- 

 chloride is dissolved. The clothes are then 

 hung in the room which is closed for twenty- 

 four hours. For furs and books especially this 

 method of disinfection with formalin proves 

 specially useful. For dwelling-houses generally 

 the spray method is exceedingly cheap. While 

 working with it the eyes should be protected 

 with spectacles and the mouth and nose with 

 cotton-wool masks ; the hands may be covered 

 with vaseline, or gloves. 



PREPARATION OF FORMALDEHYDE GEIvATlN. 



The difficulty which has been experienced in 

 completely drying and powdering formaldehyde 

 gelatin has been overcome by Van Vloten 

 (Chem. Zeit. ) by beating the gelatin solution 

 into a froth and allowing it to cool completely 

 and harden in this form. He recommends the 

 following process: Dissolve a sufficient quan- 

 tity of first quality gelatin in about four times 

 its own weight of water; pour this solution into 

 a previously warmed mortar; add the requisite 

 quantity of 40 per cent, formaldehyde solution 

 and mix thoroughly. In consequence of the 

 thin consistence of the gelatin solution the re- 

 action proceeds slowly, so that one has suffi- 

 cient time to beat the solution into a froth by 

 means of an egg beater. On allowing to stand 

 a short time a small quantity of liquid settles 

 to the bottom, and before congealing the foam 

 may be put into any desired receptable. If the 

 gelatin solution be too dilute, a liquid separates 

 out on standing a short time. The formalde- 

 hyde gelatin foam resembles very much the 

 dried, beaten white of eggs and may be easily re- 

 duced to powder. — American Druggist. 



STERILIZATION OF CATGUT. 



Boil in a mixture of eighty five parts of ethyl 

 alcohol, five parts of phenic acid and ten parts 

 of water. Five minutes' boiling suffices for the 

 sterilization with a temperature reaching 78° C. 

 Without the water the process is not so com- 

 plete nor so rapid. — SauL 



DISINFECTION IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 



The official method for disinfection in France 

 is to moisten walls, floors, and whatever cannot 



be removed from the room and taken to the 

 disinfectant station by means of a spray of a i 

 in 1,000 solution of the perchloride of mercury. 

 The spray is produced by a portable force-pump 

 fitted with a long nozzle and the apparatus is 

 called a " pulverisateur." The operation of 

 disinfecting a room only occupies one hour. 

 The German official method is to rub down the 

 wall with bread ; ordinary German loaves forty- 

 eight hours old are employed, cut into pieces 

 six inches square, with the crust at the back to 

 afford a firm hold. The crumbs having been 

 swept up and burnt, the walls and ceilings are 

 thoroughly sprinkled with weak carbolic solu- 

 tion and the floors and furniture are washed in 

 this solution. 



AN INFECTING DISINFECTOR. 



A child suffering from a mild attack of scarlet 

 fever was kept indoors for forty days. The 

 apartments were then disinfected under the 

 auspices of the municipal authorities. Two 

 days afterwards a spot was observed on one of 

 the child's tonsils, and on investigation it was 

 found to present a diphtheritic character. The 

 medical attendant was convinced that the disin- 

 fectors conveyed the new disease for no other 

 strangers had been near the place and he him- 

 self had not visited the house for three weeks. 



Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ? The foregoing 

 case was communicated on June i8th last to the 

 Societe de M^decine Practique in Paris by Dr. 

 Roulin, the medical attendant, who further 

 gave it as his firm opinion that disinfection by 

 pulverisation, which is the method adopted in 

 the City of Paris, gives illusory results. Ap- 

 parently the infection must have been intro- 

 duced in the manner indicated, but it is not 

 always safe to depend on ptima facie evidence. 



CHINOSOL 



Is the name given co an antiseptic substance, 

 with the advertised formula CgHg.N.KSO^, 

 said to possess a germicidal action forty times 

 stronger than carbolic acid, and ten times 

 stronger than corrosive sublimate; to be abso- 

 lutely non- poisonous, non-corrosive, etc.; 

 readily soluble in any proportion of cold water, 

 and the solution does not coagulate albumen. 



ACTOL AND ITROL. 



Actol, is the name given by Dr. B. Crede to a 

 substance originally formed by the exudation 

 from wounds coming in contact with pure silver 

 foil, such exudation producing lactic acid, there. 



