30 INFECTION AND IMMUNITY 



" A large number of the proprietary ' disinfectants ' so-called, 

 which are in the market, are simply deodorisers or antiseptics of 

 greater or less value, and are entirely untrustworthy for disinfect- 

 ing purposes." 



The offensive gases given off from decomposing 

 organic material are no doubt injurious to health ; 

 and the same is true, even to a greater extent, of the 

 more complex products known as ptomaines, which 

 are a product of the vital processes attending the 

 growth of the bacteria of putrefaction and allied 

 organisms. It is therefore desirable that these pro- 

 ducts should be destroyed ; and, as a matter of fact, 

 they are neutralised by some of the agents which we 

 recognise as disinfectants, in accordance with the 

 strict definition of the term. But they are also neu- 

 tralised by other agents deodorants which cannot 

 be relied upon for disinfecting purposes, and by dis- 

 infectants, properly so-called, in amounts inadequate 

 for the accomplishment of disinfection. Their form- 

 ation may also be prevented by the use of antiseptics. 

 From our point of view, the destruction of sulphur- 

 etted hydrogen, of ammonia, or even of the more 

 poisonous ptomaines, in a privy vault, is no more dis- 

 infection than is the chemical decomposition of the 

 same substances in a chemist's laboratory. The same 

 is true as regards all of the bad-smelling and little- 

 known products of decomposition. None of these 



