Disinfection of Sick-chambers, etc. 211 



served in sterile test-tubes or special receptacles plugged with 

 sterile cotton. Cumol was first introduced for this purpose 

 by Kronig, as its boiling-point is i68-i78 C., and thus 

 sufficiently high to kill spores. The use of cumol for the 

 sterilization of catgut has been carefully investigated by 

 Clarke and Miller.* 



Catgut may also and equally well be sterilized by the use 

 of chemical agents. This subject has been carefully reviewed 

 by Bertarelli and Bocchia,f who regard the method of 

 Claudius and the modification of it by Rogone as the best. 

 The method of Claudius is to roll the catgut into skeins and, 

 without taking any precautions to remove any fat it may con- 

 tain, place it in a mixture of iodin i, iodid of potassium i, and 

 distilled water 100. After immersion for eight days the cat- 

 gut is removed, under aseptic precautions, to alcohol or to 

 3 per cent, carbolic solution, in which it is indefinitely pre- 

 served for use. 



Ligatures of silk and silkworm gut are boiled in water 

 immediately before using, or are steamed with the dressings, 

 or placed in test-tubes plugged with cotton and steamed in 

 the sterilizer. 



Sterilization of Surgical Instruments, etc. In most 

 hospitals instruments are boiled, before using, in a i to 2 per 

 cent, soda (sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, or sodium 

 biborate) solution, as plain water has the disadvantage of 

 rusting them. During the operation they are either kept in 

 the boiled water or in a carbolic solution, or are dried with a 

 sterile towel. Andrews makes special mention of the fact 

 that the instruments must be completely immersed to pre- 

 vent rusting. 



Disinfection of the Wound. Cleansing solutions (normal 

 salt solution) and disinfecting solutions (such as i : 10,000 to 

 i : 1000 bichlorid of mercury) are only applied to septic 

 wounds. 



IV. The Disinfection of Sick=chambers, Dejecta, etc. 

 The Air of the Sick-room. It is impossible to sterilize 

 or disinfect the atmosphere of a room during its occupancy 

 by the patient. It is entirely useless to place beneath the bed 

 or in the corner of a room small receptacles filled with car- 

 bolic acid or chlorinated lime. These can serve no purpose 



* "Bull, of the Johns Hopkins Hospital," Feb. and March, 1896. 



t "Centralbl. fur Bakt. u. Parasitenk.," Orig. i,, 620. 



