346 APPENDIX 



Put three pounds of sulphur in an iron pot, which should not stand upon 

 woodwork or carpet, lest they be burned, but in a large pan of ashes, or 

 upon a layer of bricks ; on this sulphur pour a tablespoonful of alcohol. 

 This is then set on fire, and everybody immediately withdraws from the 

 room. The room should remain closed ten hours, after which it should be 

 thoroughly aired before it is occupied, for the fumes of the sulphur are 

 irritating to the lungs. 



The chemicals above mentioned should be known and labelled as 

 poisons. Many persons have been injured, if not killed, by incautiously 

 or ignorantly drinking those that are of a liquid form. 



Heat is one of the best, if not the best, disinfecting agent. Articles of 

 bedding and furniture that cannot well be treated otherwise can be puri- 

 fied by a long exposure to a temperature of 240 F. In some cities, es- 

 pecially in England, furnaces are made for the reception of bulky articles 

 that have become infected. 



Fresh air is another powerful agent. If woven fabrics, clothing, and 

 the like are for a long time aired out of doors, they cease to be infective ; 

 probably by the enormous dilution, if not destruction, of the elements of 

 danger. 



Certain diseases are "catching" ; they have the power of spreading 

 from one person to another, chiefly by the particles that pass off from the 

 body of the patient. Among these diseases are small-pox, measles, 

 scarlet fever, and diphtheria. The articles that are worn or used by the 

 patient become "infected," and they should be disinfected before they 

 are used by others. As a rule, of course, a doctor will be called in to 

 attend to these diseases. When that is so, follow his directions as to dis- 

 infection, as well as every other part of the treatment of the case. For 

 substances that are not injured by being washed, a good and cheap dis- 

 infectant is sulphate of zinc (" white vitriol ") and common salt dissolved 

 in water, boiling hot if possible, using eight tablespoonfuls of the zinc 

 and four of salt to the gallon of water. This is useful for clothing, bed- 

 linen, towels, handkerchiefs, etc. After these articles have lain for an 

 hour or two in this solution, they should be allowed to stand in boiling 

 water before being washed. Infected articles that are of little value 

 should, of course, be destroyed by fire. 



The United States Treasury Department has published the following 

 formula for the disinfection of the rags coming from Egypt : "1. Boiling 

 in water for two hours under a pressure of fifty pounds per square inch ; 

 2. Boiling in water for four hours without pressure ; or, 3. Subjection to 

 the action of sulphur fumes for six hours, burning one and one-half to 

 two pounds of roll-brimstone in each 1,000 cubic feet of space, with the 

 rags well scattered upon racks." Any one of these three methods is 

 accepted as sufficiently thorough to prevent the spreading of cholera by 

 means of rags. 



