462 STANDARD RECEIPTS. 



cleaning the wound. Carbolic acid, salicylic acid, blue vitriol, iodoform, 

 sugar, and alum are all among the antiseptics. 



Disinfectants are agents which have the power of destroying or 

 neutralizing infectious matter which is the product arising from those 

 suffering from a contagious disease, as small pox, measles, scarlet fever, 

 and a variety of other sources, as sewers, cess-pools, decaying matter, 

 etc. Disinfectants are used in solid forms or in solution to destroy the 

 infectious germs contained in the clothing and cesspools, and of ten found 

 in the apartments of the sick. 



Fumigation is disinfection by means of a gas instead of by the use 

 of solids or solutions. This is very valuable in disinfecting air, and ar- 

 ticles which would be destroyed by wetting. 



Precautions Against Contagious Diseases. While disinfec- 

 tions destroy the germs left behind by a disease, yet it is well to observe 

 all precautions posssible to prevent contagion. Should a pupil be taken 

 ill of a contagious disease in a school-room or in a family, the room 

 should be fumigated before those who have not been exposed to the 

 contagion should be allowed to enter. The patient should be removed 

 to the top of the house or to a distant part of the dwelling. Before do- 

 ing this remove from the room to be occupied by the patient everything 

 not needed for the comfort of the sick. No one should be allowed to 

 enter the room except the one caring for the patient, and that person 

 should communicate with the family as little as possible. All clothing 

 and bed linen should be disinfected before removing from the room. 

 Even the dishes should receive proper attention. The attendant should 

 be careful never to eat or drink anything that has been standing in the 

 room. As the patient recovers, several warm sponge baths should be 

 given, with an antiseptic solution consisting of three grains of corrosive 

 sublimate to si quart of water, before leaving the room. Clothing that 

 has not been kept in the room should be placed upon the patient im- 

 mediately preceding departure. 



Dead bodies should be wrapped in linen saturated in a solution of cor- 

 rosive-sublimate of fifteen grains to a pint of water, or a solution of six 

 tea-spoonfuls of carbolic acid to a pint of water. The corrosive-sublimate 

 has not a disagreeable odor, while carbohc acid is more or less unpleas- 

 ant. 



A Few Disinfectants. In the sick room fresh air and cleanliness 

 are always at hand. Besides these we have 



BRIMSTONE (Roll Sulphur) for fumigation. 



