1 18 PA THOGENIC BACTERIA . 



Again, the fact that some of the antiseptics, as nitrate 

 of silver and bichlorid of mercury, are at once precipi- 

 tated by albumins, and thus lose their germicidal and 

 antiseptic powers, limits the scope of their employment. 

 I think it may be safely said that carbolic acid is the 

 most reliable and most generally useful of all the germi- 

 cides and antiseptics. 



The Disinfection of Sick-chambers, Dejecta, etc. 

 What has just been remarked concerning the unreliability 

 of many of the germicidal substances is eminently a 

 propos of the disinfection of dejecta. It is useless to 

 mix bichlorid of mercury with typhoid stools or tubercu- 

 lar sputum rich in albumin, and imagine these substances 

 rendered harmless in consequence. It should not be for- 

 gotten that the sick patient is less the means of convey- 

 ing the contagium than the objects with which he is in 

 contact, which can be carried to other rooms or houses 

 during or after the progress of the disease. A careful 

 consideration of the condition of the sick-room will 

 lead us to a clear understanding of its bacteriological 

 condition. 



The Air of the Sick-room. It is impossible to sterilize 

 or disinfect the atmosphere of a room during its occu- 

 pancy by the patient. The disinfecting capacity of the 

 solutions given above must make obvious the concentra- 

 tion of their useful solutions, and show the foolishness 

 of placing beneath the bed or in the corners of a room 

 small receptacles filled with carbolic acid or chlorinated 

 lime. These can serve no purpose for good, and may be 

 potent for harm by obscuring the disagreeable odors 

 emanating from materials which should be removed from 

 the room by the still more disagreeable odors of the dis- 

 infectants. The practice of such a custom is only com- 

 parable to the old faith in the virtue of asafetida tied 

 in a corner of the handkerchief as a preventive of cholera 

 and smallpox. 



During the period of illness a chamber in which the 

 patient is confined should be freely ventilated, so that its 



