220 Sterilization and Disinfection 



ever, be exercised to see that the required volume of gas 

 is generated to disinfect the apartment. A sufficient con- 

 centration of the gas is absolutely necessary, and the method 

 selected should be one capable of discharging the gas in a 

 short time, so that it immediately pervades the atmosphere. 



Disinfection with formaldehyd is, however, only super- 

 ficial, its penetrating powers being limited. The discharge 

 of gas into the room should only be preliminary to other and 

 more thorough disinfection and sterilization of the contents 

 by the application of solutions of disinfectants to the wood- 

 work, and to the boiling of the linen, etc. 



The Dejecta. In diphtheria the expectoration and nasal 

 discharges are highly infectious and should be received in old 

 rags or in Japanese paper napkins not handkerchiefs or 



Fig. 43. Pasteboard cup for receiving infectious sputum. When used 

 the pasteboard can be removed from the iron frame and burned. 



towels and should be burned. The sputum of tuberculous 

 patients should either be collected in a glazed earthen vessel 

 which can be subjected to boiling and disinfection, or, as is 

 an excellent plan, should be received in Japanese rice-paper 

 napkins, which can at once be burned. These napkins are 

 not quite so good as the small pasteboard boxes (Fig. 43) 

 recommended by some city boards of health, because, 

 being highly absorbent, the sputum is apt to soak through 

 and soil the ringers. For the fastidious patients in cer- 

 tain sanatoria, cut-glass bottles with tightly fitting lids 

 are used to collect the sputum, and as these are not un- 

 sightly, the patients make no objection to carrying them 

 about with them. Tuberculous patients should be provided 

 with rice-paper instead of handkerchiefs, and should have 

 their towels, knives, forks, spoons, plates, etc., kept strictly 

 apart from the others of the household and carefully sterilized 

 after using. Patients whose mental acuity makes their 



