104 PATHOGENIC BACTERIA. 



After the illness the walls of the rooms, including the 

 ceiling, may be rubbed with fresh bread, which L,6ffler 

 has shown to be efficacious in collecting the bacteria, 

 or, if possible, should be whitewashed. If the walls are 

 hung with paper, it should be dampened with i : 1000 

 bichlorid-of-mercury solution before new paper is hung. 

 The floor should be scoured with 5 per cent, carbolic- 

 acid solution or i : 1000 bichlorid of mercury, and all the 

 wooden articles wiped off two or three times with the 

 same solution employed for the floor. In this scouring 

 no soap can be used, as it destroys the virtue of the 

 germicide. If a straw mattress was used, it should be 

 burned and the cover boiled. If a hair mattress was 

 used, it can be steamed or baked by the manufacturers, 

 who generally have ovens for the purpose. Curtains, 

 shades, etc. should receive proper attention, but of course 

 the greater the precautions exercised in the beginning, 

 the fewer the articles which will need attention in the 

 end. They should be removed before the case has 

 developed. 



The patient, whether he lives or dies, may also be 

 a means of spreading the disease unless specially cared 

 for. After convalescence the body should be bathed with 

 a weak bichlorid-of-mercury solution or with a 2 per 

 cent, carbolic-acid solution, or with 25-50 per cent, alco- 

 hol, before the patient is allowed to mingle with society, 

 and the hair should either be cut off or carefully washed 

 with the above solution. In desquamative diseases it 

 seems best to have the entire body anointed with cos- 

 molin once daily, the unguent being well rubbed in, in 

 order to prevent the particles of epidermis being distrib- 

 uted through the atmosphere. Carbolated cosmolin may 

 be better than the plain, not because of the very slight 

 antiseptic value it possesses, but because it helps to allay 

 the itching which may be part of the desquamative 

 process. 



After the patient is about the room again, common 

 sense will prevent the admission of strangers until all 



