534 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



removing all facilities for house-warmiug, for four or five month& 

 in the ^^ear, especially in malarious regions, I condemn in toto. 

 There is not a summer month in which there are not times of 

 humid atmosphere, in which a little fire, made up at evenings 

 would not be beneficial. 



There is yet another povirerful disinfectant. I mean a little- 

 water (cold water is preferal>le), with the addition of a little soap^ 

 if need be, applied at proper intervals, by way of ablution, which^ 

 being followed by thorough rul)bing with a dry crash, opens the 

 pores and stimulates the skin to healthy action in the performance- 

 of its excretory function. 



Such, Mr. President, is a brief outline €>f a theory by w^hich I 

 have been able to account more satisfactorily to my own mind for 

 malarious phenomena, under all the vju-ied circuimstances attend- 

 ing them, than by any other. 



The chairman remarked that al>le papers on disinfectants had 

 been published in American medical journals. The paper of Dr.. 

 Squibbs, and that of Dr. Allen, deserve especial notice. It was 

 not until the rinderpest had commenced its ravages that this 

 subject commanded much attention in England. Since that time 

 many experiments have been made to determine the best method 

 of checking the disease. A very able report had been made on 

 the subject by Wm. Crookes, F. K. S., of London., editor of the 

 Chemical News. 



Carbonic or (phenic) acid has been found very efficacious in ar- 

 resting the cattle plague. 



Prof. Chas. A. Joy said that out of the number of disinfectants 

 that have been discovered, carbolic acid is perhaps the one we- 

 oujxht to retain. It is a sulistancc that has a wonderful effect in 

 destroying animal life. It is astonishing to see how insects Avill 

 fly from it. It is amusing to observe how a heap of insects that 

 are torpid, when this acid is brought near them in a moment thej 

 wull turn out alive and leave the spot. It is a very violent poison;: 

 a very small quantity of it is sutficient to kill a dog. Phenic acid 

 is almost identical with creosote. We have had a great many 

 things suggested for disinfectants; among these sun-light has been 

 highly spoken of. Persons who live much in the sun-light arc 

 more healthy and live longest. A system of sun bathing has been 

 tried with good eflect, where persons are exposed for hours to the 

 light of the sun, entirely naked. This is a simple and a cheap 

 process, and daubtless the best. 



