Disinfection of the Patient 223 



antiseptic soap. In desquamative diseases it seems best 

 to have the entire body anointed with cosmolin once daily, 

 beginning before desquamation begins and having the 

 unguent well rubbed in, in order to prevent the particles of 

 epidermis, in which the specific contagium probably occurs, 

 being distributed through the atmosphere. Carbolated 

 may be better than plain cosmolin, not because of the very 

 slight antiseptic value it possesses, but because it helps to 

 allay the itching which may accompany the desquamative 

 process. 



After the patient is about the room again, common sense 

 will prohibit the admission of visitors until the suggested 

 disinfective measures have been adopted, and after this, 

 touching, and especially kissing him, should be avoided for 

 some time. 



The bodies of those that die of infectious diseases should be 

 washed in a strong disinfectant solution, and should be given 

 a strictly private funeral. If this be impossible, the body 

 should be sealed in the coffin and only the face viewed 

 through a plate of glass. In my judgment, the body is 

 best disposed of by cremation. 



A dead body cannot remain a source of infection for an 

 indefinite period. Esmarch,* who made a series of labora- 

 tory experiments to determine the fate of pathogenic bac- 

 teria in the dead body, found that in septicemia, cholera, 

 anthrax, malignant edema, tuberculosis, tetanus, and typhoid 

 fever the pathogenic bacteria all die sooner or later, more 

 rapidly during active decomposition than during preservation 

 of the tissues. 



* "Zeitschrift fur Hygiene," 1893. 



