DISINFECTANTS AND DISINFECTION. 177 



a. Wet Blanket Method. Immerse blankets or sheets in the formalin 

 solution and suspend them about the room to be disinfected. The room 

 may first be sprayed with a hot 4 per cent, solution of formalin -which fur- 

 nishes warmth and moisture. The operator must work rapidly as formalin 

 is very irritating to eyes and respiratory tract. 



b. Methyl Alcohol Lamps. Formalin may be generated in the space to 

 be disinfected by oxidizing the methyl alcohol and converting it into for- 

 maldehyde. Lamps of special construction are necessary. The vapor of 

 methyl alcohol is passed over a highly heated plate whereupon it is oxidized 

 into formaldeyhde (CH 3 OH+ O = HCHO + H 2 O) with liberation of water. 

 This method of disinfection is now rarely employed. 



c. Sanitary Construction Company's Lamp. The mechanism consists of 

 a tank to hold the formalin, connected with a spiral tube through which the 

 solution is slowly passed through a flame. The heat vaporizes the formalin 

 which is then conducted into the room (through the key hole) by means of 

 suitable tubing. This apparatus is much used by health officers. 



d. The Shering Lamp. These small compact and most convenient 

 lamps can be secured from any wholesale drug supply house. With this 

 apparatus the solid tablets of paraform or paraformaldehyde are used. The 

 heat from the lamp decomposes the tablets, producing formaldehyde. The 

 lamps are placed in position, in sufficient numbers, lighted and the small 

 tray of each lamp is supplied with a sufficient number of tablets. As a 

 precautionary measure each lamp should be placed on a brick in a pan or 

 dish of water. The air in the room must be warm and moist. 



e. Formaldehyde Candles. These consist of a mixture of paraformalde- 

 hyde and paraffin, wax, tallow or other combustible, which may be moulded 

 into candles. The candles are placed in a fireproof dish or pan and ignited. 

 For room disinfection these candles are most convenient as well as satisfactory. 



F. Disinfection at Quarantine Stations. All civilized nations maintain 

 a system of vigilance as a protection against the introduction, from foreign 

 countries, of certain communicable diseases designated as quarantinable. 

 The first disease against which a quarantine was established was the plague. 

 In the fourteenth century certain Italian cities established a quarantine 

 against this dread disease and the word ' 'Quarantine' 7 came into general 

 use because of the fact that the period of detention was about forty days 

 (Ital. quarantina) . The actual period of detention as now enforced varies 

 somewhat depending upon the nature of the disease against which the 

 detention is maintained, as determined by the period of incubation. The 

 quarantinable diseases recognized by the United States are plague (bubonic), 

 small-pox, yellow fever, Asiatic cholera, leprosy and typhus. 1 The enforce- 



1 National quarantine against foreign disease is entirely distinct from state or city 

 quarantine. The following diseases are recognized as quarantinable by most state boards. 



