168 Agricultural Bacteriology. 



Lime is cheap, and can be procured everywhere. If 

 the whitewash is prepared from good lime, its disinfect- 

 ing properties are probably as great as those of any other 

 substance that can be used to advantage in stable disin- 

 fection. It has, however, little effect on spores of bac- 

 teria. The whitewashed walls and ceilings make the 

 stable much lighter than would otherwise be the case. 

 The dry water-slaked lime is especially valuable for the 

 treatment of yards and pens infected with hog cholera 

 bacilli and for covering the carcasses of all animals that 

 have died of any of the transmissible diseases, and which 

 are to be buried. 



Carbolic acid and cresol compounds. Carbolic acid 

 appears on the market in the crude and purified forms. 

 The former is a black, oily liquid that will not mix with 

 water, unless treated with strong acids, such as sulphuric 

 acid, or with strong alkalies. The pure carbolic acid is 

 in the form of white crystals, which on the addition of 5 

 per cent of water, and on warming, changes to a clear 

 liquid of the consistency of syrup. For use as a general 

 disinfectant, this liquid is added to water so ato make 

 a 5 per cent solution. A stronger solution than this will 

 not dissolve in water/ 



Both the crude and purified carbolic acid are being re- 

 placed for disinfection purposes by the different proprie- 

 tary compounds such as ZenoLeum, Kresol, etc. These 

 substances have, as a rule, greater disinfecting powers 

 than carbolic acid, a 2 per cent solution being as effective 

 as a 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid. They mix with 

 water in all proportions, forming a milky white emulsion 

 that can be easily applied with a brush or spray pump. 

 They are less caustic and poisonous than carbolic acid, 

 but their cost is somewhat more. 



