104 MICROBES AND HEALTH. 



cause of disease. After a room has been used by one 

 having a so called infectious disease, they order the 

 room closed and fumigated with sulphur. Sulphur 

 fumes cause a grimy deposit over the walls, furniture 

 and other articles with which they come in contact; 

 leave a disagreeable odor for days or weeks, and often 

 cause an irritating and disagreeable cough among those 

 occupying apartments in which sulphur has been 

 burned. 



If it were true that germs cause disease, the burn- 

 ing of sulphur would do no good, for sulphur fumes 

 will not destroy germs. Merck & Co. are among those 

 highest in authority. Eegarding the effect of sulphur 

 fumes upon germs the April number of Merck's Ar- 

 chives, page 159, states: "Such fumes have no effect 

 upon dry spores and can only affect such germs as are 

 in a moist condition/' It is needless to add that a dry 

 room contains no germs in a moist condition, and that 

 the fumes of sulphur are utterly worthless. 



Personal letters from other authorities contain these 

 words: "Fumes of sulphur as ordinarily used in a 

 dry room will not destroy germs." Every chemist in 

 the land understands that germs are not affected by 

 sulphur fumes. The foregoing is mentioned simply 

 to show the value in a community of bacteriology and 

 its theories. 



If the air, walls, ceilings, floors, carpets, furni- 

 ture and other contents of a room are wet with 

 water or steam, and then exposed to the fumes of 

 burning sulphur, many innocent germs might be de- 



