1889.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 107 



This use of steam as a disinfectant is of great use, and in most cases 

 does no damage whatever to clothes, etc. As soon as the articles are 

 removed from the steamer they are spread out and dry of themselves al- 

 most immediately. Such articles as feather beds are dried in an oven 

 built for the purpose. Leather is ruined by steaming, but shoes and 

 other articles made of leather are not injured by corrosive sublimate. 

 In the hospitals in Berlin, in Germany, the clothing and everything else 

 used by a person suffering from an infectious disease are either steril- 

 ized by steam or with corrosive sublimate ; and the expensive process 

 of burning up infected clothing, etc., is no longer resorted to. 



Many other applications of bacteriology to affairs of every-day life 

 might be enumerated, but these incidents are enough to show that this 

 studv has already assumed very great importance. It is not going too 

 far to say that the benefit which has been derived and the possible ad- 

 vantages in the future can scarcely be over-estimated. Men of all 

 nationalities are flocking to Germany every year for the purpose of 

 studying bacteria, so great has the importance of this branch become. 

 It was predicted at first that this noise about bacteria would soon die 

 out ; that it would be found out that their importance was greatly ex- 

 aggerated. Just the opposite is the case. Instead of interest lagging, 

 the more bacteria are studied the more important they appear. 



Although we are indebted to Pasteur for much valuable work, and 

 his opinion is of the greatest worth, he has probably gone a step too 

 far in his preventive inoculations. He has established the fact that 

 it is possible to vaccinate for certain diseases and render the animal so 

 vaccinated immune, but the methods are not perfect enough as yet to 

 allow of introduction into general use. It is to be hoped that such will 

 finally be the case, but at present it is a matter of purely scientific value. 

 The time may come when we shall be able to vaccinate for malignant 

 pustule, chicken cholera, swine plague, etc., just as we vaccinate for 

 small-pox now-a-days, but in some cases, at least, it is questionable 

 whether this will ever be accomplished. Of course much the best way 

 to guard against infectious diseases is to get rid of the cause of infection, 

 and the study of bacteria has given us valuable means with which to 

 accomplish this end. It has already been stated that Koch has found 

 corrosive sublimate a very potent disinfectant. Now, how would we 

 apply this in case of an epidemic? Suppose an epidemic of chicken 

 cholera were to break out. As we know of no trustworthy means of 

 curing the disease, we should try to limit it as much as possible. In 

 the first place, the fowls should be confined in the chicken house where 

 this is feasible, and every few da}'S the walls and floor should be scoured 

 with lye and then wiped out with a solution of corrosive sublimate. 

 The sublimate should be allowed to remain several hours, and the walls 

 and floor again scoured with lye or soap. The corrosive sublimate solu- 

 tion need not be stronger than 60 grains or 1 dram to the gallon of water. 

 This is a very weak solution, out of course it must not be left carelessly 

 around so that any one would be likely to drink any of it, as it is a 

 deadly poison. It has been recommended to color the solution with a 

 small quantity of some cheap dye stuff, so that it would not be mistaken 

 for water. It would be better to have two hen houses, to disinfect 

 them with the corrosive sublimate solution and transfer the fowls every 

 few days from one to the other, disinfecting every time as soon as the 



