400 PRACTICAL HYGIENE 



sists, not of one, but of many, problems, all more or less 

 complex. None of these can be slighted or turned over 

 to a novice. 



Destruction of Infectious Material. At times the house- 

 keeping has to be directed especially toward hygienic re- 

 quirements, such an occasion being the sickness of one of 

 the inmates with some contagious disease. Unless special 

 precautions are taken, the disease will spread to other 

 members of the household and may reach people in the 

 neighborhood. Not only must great care be exercised 

 that nothing used in connection with the sick shall serve 

 as a carrier of disease, but germs passing from the patient 

 should, as far as possible, be actually destroyed. All dis- 

 charges from the body likely to contain bacteria should 

 be burned or treated with disinfectants and buried deeply 

 at a remote distance from the water supply to the 

 house. 



After recovery all clothing, bedding, and furniture used 

 in connection with the sick should be disinfected or 

 burned. The room also in which the sick was cared for 

 should be thoroughly disinfected and cleaned ; in some 

 instances the woodwork ought to be repainted and the 

 walls repapered or calcimined. The purpose is, of course, 

 to destroy all germs and prevent, by this means, a recur- 

 rence of the disease. 



Fumigation. To destroy germs in the air or adhering to the walls 

 of rooms, furniture, clothing, etc., fumigation is employed. This is 

 accomplished by saturating the air of rooms with some vapor or gas 

 which will destroy the germs. Fumigation is quite generally employed 

 in the general cleaning after the patient leaves his room. This, to 

 be effective, must be thorough. Formaldehyde is considered the best 

 disinfectant for this purpose, and it should be evaporated with heat in 

 the proportion of one half pint of the 40 per cent solution to 1000 

 cu. ft. of space. Since formaldehyde is inflammable and easily boils 



