Disinfection of the Furniture 171 



The doctor visiting a case of dangerous infection or a hos- 

 pital for infectious diseases should cover his clothing with a 

 linen or cotton gown, and protect his hair with a cap, these 

 articles being disinfected after the visit. By such precau- 

 tions he will avoid spreading infection among his patients or 

 carrying it to his own family. 



The Furniture, etc. The destruction of infected fur- 

 niture is unnecessary. The doctor treating a case of infec- 

 tious disease, if he properly perform his functions, will save 

 much trouble and money for his patient by ordering his 

 immediate isolation in an uncarpeted, scantily and simply 

 furnished room the moment an infectious disease is sus- 

 pected. However, if before his removal the patient has 

 occupied another bed, its clothing should be promptly dis- 

 infected. 



After the recovery or death of the patient the walls and 

 ceiling of the room should be sprayed with a formaldehyd 

 solution, or the room sealed and filled with the vapor. 

 Where this cannot be done, the walls may be rubbed with 

 fresh bread, which Loffler has shown to be efficacious in col- 

 lecting the bacteria, though very troublesome and scarcely 

 practicable; or, if possible, the walls may be whitewashed. 

 If they are hung with paper, they may be dampened with 

 i : 1000 bichlorid of mercury solution before new paper is 

 hung. 



Strehl has demonstrated 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 is an important adjunct to our means of disinfecting 

 the furniture of the sick-chamber. 



The floor should be scoured with 40 per cent, formaldehyd 

 solution, 5 per cent, carbolic acid solution, or i : 1000 bi- 

 chlorid of mercury solution (no soap being used, as it 

 destroys the bichlorid of mercury and prevents its action), 

 and all the wooden articles wiped off two or three times 

 with one of the same solutions. 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 usually have ovens for the purpose of destroying moths, 

 but which answer for sterilizing closets. Curtains, shades, 

 etc., should receive proper attention; but, of course, the 

 greater the precautions exercised in the beginning, the fewer 

 the articles that will need attention in the end. 



