STERILIZATION AND DISINFECTION. 181 



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. 



Strehl has succeeded in demonstrating that when 10 per 

 cent, formalin solution is sponged upon artificially infected 

 curtains, etc., the bacteria are killed by the action of the 

 disinfectant. This knowledge will be an important ad- 

 junct to our means for disinfecting the furniture of the 

 sick-chamber. 



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 

 the disinfective measures have been adopted, and after 

 this, touching, and especially kissing him, should be 

 omitted for some time. 



The dead who die of infectious diseases should be 

 washed in a strong disinfectant solution, and should be 

 given a private funeral in which the body, if exposed, 



