periments annie during as summer cae 1887 aaa subusonaetl 
urean laboratory, with lime upon the virus of hog choler 
been very satisfactory. In fact, the results were sufficiently Pp 
tive to warrant its use in place of the corrosive sublimate ‘reco! 
mended in the preceding report. 
Ba Lime has many advantages over the usual disinfectants. ‘Tt is 
_ ~ cheap, is easily obtained and prepared, and may be used with im 
Nie see 
-..-punity, as it has no poisonous properties. Nor is the soil injured a 
the addition of a small percentage of lime. 
rn - The method which was followed out in testing its vermicide prop- MiG 
hea erties was mainly that used by Liberius, The more detailed descrip-_ 
tion and the tabulated results of experiments will be published in — 3 
the forthcoming report of the Bureau for the year 1887. It will be~ “4 
Rs ie ‘sufficient to give the results obtained and some remarks on their 
ial practical application. Pe 
sae Bacteria of hog cholera free from any organic or inorganic matter vf 
eh * are destroyed w thie one hour by .03 per cent. of lime; in other words, — 
- by lime water diluted to one-fourth its original strength (12 per cent.). ; 
_ > “When the same bacteria are suspended in bouillon as much as 508 ote 
“per cent. is necessary to destroy them. Whenacorsiderable quan- 
tity of coagulated albumen, as much as is contained in boiled, un-, 7 
filtered beef infusion, was present, and in addition a quantity of ego 
albumen equivalent ‘to two eggs in a liter, the liquid requires be- 
_- . tween .3 and.4 percent. of lime before the bacteria are completely © 
~~ destroyed. sik 
. hese experiments have reference to the disinfection of the dian 
-~ charges of diseased pigs, in which the amount of organic matter can - 
' hardly be so great asin the albuminous liquid above mentioned. It 
- *, will be seen that as this increases in amount a larger per cent. of lime | 
“is required. The lime produces a flocculent precipitate which sub-\ . 
sides, leaving a perfectly limpid supernatant liquid. The precipi- ~ 
2°) tated portion of lime very probably becomes inert. . i 
pen Experiments were made with soil in the same way. <A rich oes ro, 
ape to which large numbers of hog cholera bacteria suspended in sim = 
bea bouillon were added, was completely freed from living bacteria within 
“one day by adding one-half per cent. of lime by weight to the oil “ 
an and mixing the two together. The soil had been previously steril- 
ized before the hog cholera bacteria were added, ‘Thelime was used 
in the form of a 5 and 10 per cent. milk of lime. ee 
In the practical application of lime we may say in general that it 
should be used in place of mercuric chloride (corrosive sublimate) 
wherever possib e. On wood-work it will be efficientasa whitewash. 
Hay In infected pens the soil should be covered either by powdered lime 
or slaked lime inathin layer. The lime-water will percolate into the 
deeper layers of the soil and destroy any bacteria which have pene- 
,* trated into them from the surface. : 
; The experiments on the vitality of hog cholera virus in the soil are 
not sufliciently comprehensive as yet to be made a basis for practical 
_ deductions. But, taking all the ev ridence, it is safe to say that.a period —* 
of six months is the maximum and three the minimum time that need i 
| be allowed for infected pens and grounds to become safe for occupamey ~~ 
A when no disinfection is practiced. Lime as a whitewash on’ wood- 
Ms work, and scattered over the soil as slaked lime or as powder, used, in 
short, wherever there is any suspicion of the presence of virus, may 
reduce the time during which the ground should be kept unoccupied axes) 
to two weeks. It is our intention to make experiments on the disin- rua 
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