446 DISINFECTION 



acid is one of the most unirritating antiseptics which is known. It 

 may be used in saturated watery solution (1-30) or dusted on 

 copiously as fine powder. It is especially applicable to open wounds, 

 and as an eye-wash. 



Boots, looks, leather-covered articles, etc., should be disinfected by 

 dry heat or formalin (preferably Lingner's apparatus). 



Infected linen should be steamed or boiled, but if that is not 

 available, immersion for one hour in corrosive sublimate (1-500) or 

 for twenty-four hours in the same solution 1-1000. Less powerful 

 germicides have, however, been found successful, e.g. izal (1-100), 

 carbolic acid (1-100). 



Cups, saucers, plates, spoons, knives, forks, etc., should all be 

 disinfected in boiling water. 



Rags in bales can only be disinfected by steam. 



Pens, lyres, stables t trucks, vans, markets, etc., are best treated 

 with some form of sprayer (e.g. Equifex hot-spray disinfector) or 

 distributor (e.g. the chloros distributor). Ships also may be treated 

 by this apparatus or by means of the Newcastle disinfecting hulk 

 (Goddard, Massey, and Warner). 



Disinfection of the Hands. To a surgeon, the disinfection of the 

 hands is a matter of vital importance. There are many opportunities 

 for conveying bacteria on the hands, which naturally come in the 

 way of dust and dirt, and so carry organisms in the cracks of the 

 skin surface, in the sebaceous glands, under the nails, and even in 

 the substance of the epithelium. This was demonstrated by 

 Lockwood in 1896, and again by Freeman in 1899. Subsequent 

 experiments confirmed the fact of the difficulty of completely freeing 

 the skin of the hands from micro-organisms. In 1902, Dr Schaeffer 

 of Berlin, whilst recognising that absolute asepticism of the hands 

 is not possible, showed by experiments that it is possible to render 

 the hands so free from organisms during a surgical operation that 

 the danger of wound contamination is exceedingly small. Collins 

 has pointed out (1904) that much depends upon vigorous scrubbing, 

 clean nail-brushes, and hot water. Soap, water, and carbolic acid 

 (1-20), permanganate of potash, corrosive sublimate (1-1000), 

 lysol, and many other similar antiseptic solutions have been 

 used with more or less satisfactory results. Schaeffer, how- 

 ever, decides in favour of the hot-water-alcohol method (96 per 

 cent, spirit), the chief advantage of which is that it removes 

 organisms from the skin rather than killing them on the skin. 

 Mikulicz advocates spirit-soap as cheaper than alcohol, but apparently 

 the difference in expense in this country is not great, and the spirit/- 

 soap leaves the hands in a slippery condition. It may ' be pointed 

 out that washing in spirit rather than antiseptics preserves the 

 smooth surface of the skin and results in no roughness. 



