PNEUMONIA 319 



letting a current of steam act on the material for not less than half 

 an hour, at a temperature of 218 F. ; (2) by boiling for not less than 

 one hour in a solution containing 2 per cent, potassium permanganate, 

 bleaching it afterwards with a solution containing 3 to 4 per cent, of 

 sulphurous acid ; or (3) by boiling in water for not less than two 

 hours. A number of other regulations are included in the Order.* 

 Various experiments have been carried out in this country with a 

 view to determining the most effectual methods of disinfection.-)- 

 Boiling does not appear to be always effective, and is, moreover, 

 frequently impracticable owing to the damage it causes. In steam 

 disinfection of horse hair and similar materials, a temperature of 

 230 F. for 30 minutes is as effective as higher temperatures, but the 

 hair must be loose and not closely packed in bundles. Probably one 

 of the most practical methods for disinfection of hair is to soak it 

 for twenty-four hours in a solution of one part of corrosive sublimate 

 in a thousand parts of warm water (Klein). But apart from actual 

 disinfection of the material, considerable protection is afforded by 

 (a) the avoidance of horse hair from Eussia, Siberia, and China, and 

 wool from Persia (from which sources most infection is derived), unless 

 it is guaranteed as thoroughly disinfected ; (b) by compelling employes 

 to wash with soap and hot water before leaving work or taking food, 

 the more general the washing, as a rule, the greater the security 

 obtained ; (c) the use of fans creating a down-draught to remove dust 

 when sorting; and (d) the exclusion of workpeople suffering from 

 cuts or scratches of the skin from processes in which they are likely 

 to come into contact with dust from horse hair. 



Anthrax covers a wide geographical area all over the world, and 

 no country seems altogether exempt. In Germany as many as 3700 

 animals have been lost in a single year. In 1903 there were 761 

 outbreaks of anthrax in Great Britain, in which 1127 animals were 

 attacked. This is the largest return recorded since the passing of 

 the Anthrax Order in 1886. 



Pneumonia 



Some of the difficulty which has surrounded the bacteriology 

 of inflammation of the lungs is due to the confusion arising 

 from supposing that attacks of the disease differed only in 

 degree. Pneumonia, however, has various forms, arising now from 

 one cause, now from another. The lobar or croupous pneumonia is 

 associated with two organisms : Frankel's diplococcus and Fried- 

 lander's pneumo-bacillus. Acute catarrhal pneumonia generally 

 arises as a secondary complication to other disease, such as diphtheria, 

 influenza, bronchial affections, etc. Septic pneumonias are also not 



* Annual Report of Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops^ 1902, p. 214. 

 t Md., 1900, 1902, and 1903. 



