206 GENERAL THERAPEUTICS FOR VETERINARIANS 



necessary for autan as for formaldehyde (see above), especially 

 the complete sealing of the compartment, and a temperature not 

 under 10° C. is also required (not always possible with railroad 

 cars). In addition, autan is also expensive. According to Loffler 

 (Zeitschr. f. Vetkde., 1909), the organisms of swine erysipelas, hog 

 cholera, strangles, fowl cholera, anthrax and tuberculosis are 

 readily destroyed by autan. The disinfection must continue 7 

 hours, the compartment must be completely sealed and litter and 

 manure must be removed. 



Chinosol. This preparation is very active in inhibiting the 

 development of bacteria, but has only a slight antiseptic action. 

 It is ineffective against anthrax spores; very expensive, gives an 

 unpleasant odor to the animal body, is not absolutely non-toxic 

 and cannot be used for the disinfection of iron objects, manure, 

 etc., because it is decomposed by iron and alkaline substances. 



Heat. — 1. A glowing heat acts the strongest (disinfection of 

 chains and other iron objects). 



2. Burning is the best method of rendering anthrax and black 

 leg cadavers harmless; a burning process which has proven satis- 

 factory in practice has been described by Lothes and Prof6 (Fort- 

 schritte der Hygiene, 1904). 



3. The disinfectant action of dry heat is generally overrated. 

 Spore-free bacteria are killed by dry heat of 100° C. In the usual 

 method of employing dry heat (oven), however, 100° C. of heat 

 does not penetrate the object of disinfection because dry air is a 

 poor conductor of heat. Spore-containing bacteria (anthrax 

 spores) require much higher degrees of heat (140° C.) operating 

 for hours. The spores contain an almost water-free albumin, 

 which it is very difficult for the dry heat to penetrate. With the 

 employment of the hot air sterilizer (oven, 140° C), the heat in 

 the interior of the object to be disinfected is usually insufficient. 

 After 3 hours' exposure to 140° C. in a hot air steriUzer, a wool- 

 covered ball showed a temperature of only 35° C. in the centre. 



4. Boiling water kills spore-free bacteria in a short time (boil- 

 ing the milk in foot-and-mouth disease). Heating milk for 20 

 minutes at 65° C. kills tubercle bacilli, colon bacilU, streptococci 



