860 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



or evaporated from secretions and excretions ; the second form is 

 that voided by the excretions. Contagious matter may impregnate 

 the air of buildings, and also the external atmosphere. It may 

 render the dung and urine of animals a positive and immediate 

 source of danger. Disinfecting agents must be capable of acting 

 upon contagious matter in both these forms. The agents commonly 

 used for this purpose are the following : — . 



1. Chloride of lime. — This is one of the most efficient agents 

 for the disinfection of dung, urine, etc. It has the great disadvan- 

 tage, however, of a strong, suffocating odor, which often renders 

 injurious its use in buildings occupied by diseased animals, by caus- 

 ing irritation of the bronchial tubes and the lungs. When used in 

 the open air, or in unoccupied buildings, it should be sprinkled over 

 the floor and the substances to be purified. This can be done most 

 efficiently by means of a dredger. 



2. Carbolic Acid. — This may be used in a variety of ways. It 

 is both an antiseptic and a disinfectant. In the crude liquid form it 

 may be applied with a brush to the wood-work and walls of buildings, 

 or diluted with an equal quantity of water, and sprinkled about by 

 means of an ordinary watering-pot. Cloths or blankets may be 

 wrung out of a weak solution of the acid, and hung about to destroy 

 floating germs of disease. The odor is disagreeable to flies, and this 

 fact may be often taken advantage of to relieve a suffering animal 

 from the annoyance occasioned by these troublesome pests. It is 

 well to add a little of it to the whitewash used about the buildings. 



3. Sulphate of Iron (Copperas).— -This is a cheap and efficient 

 agent for deodorizing and disinfecting animal discharges. It may 

 be pulverized and used as a powder, or dissolved in the proportion 

 of 4 to 8 oz. to a pail of water. In this way it may be poured into 

 the drains, or sprinkled upon the, walls and floor. 



4. Sulphate of Zinc (White Vitriol). — This is more efficient 

 than the sulphate of iron, but much more expensive." The same 

 may be said of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) and the chloride of 

 zinc. 



These substances act more efficiently in combination than either 

 does alone. We give a few formulas, by means of which the farmer 

 can prepare disinfectants as heeded, and at much less expense than 

 the combinations can be purchased : — 



Disinfectants in Solid Form. 



1. Sulphate of iron (copperas), 13 lb. 



Plaster-of -Paris (ground) . . . .' 4 lb. 



Carbolic acid l z. 



