Disinfection of Dejecta 



183 



the gas being allowed to act undisturbed for some hours, after which 

 the windows and doors are all thrown open to fresh air and sunlight. 



If sheets are hung up, or the permanganate method employed, 

 the windows and doors, other than that by means of which the 

 operator is to escape, are closed and sealed. If the permanganate of 

 potassium or calcium carbide methods are to be employed, the 

 cracks about the doors and windows are sealed with paper, a dish- 

 pan or wash-tub is placed in the center of the room, and in it the 

 can containing the permanganate or carbide and sand. The for- 

 maldehyd solution is poured on, the operator making his escape, 

 closing and sealing the door behind him. Any closets in the room 

 must be left open so that they and their contents may be disinfected 

 with the room. 



So far as is known at present, superficial disinfection by formal- 

 dehyd leaves little to be desired. Care must, however, be exercised 

 to see that the required volume of gas is generated to disinfect the 

 apartment. A sufficient concentration of the gas is absolutely necessary 

 and the method selected should be one capable of discharging the 

 gas in a short time, so that it immediately pervades the atmosphere. 



Disinfection with formaldehyd is, however, only superficial, its 

 penetrating powers being limited. The discharge of gas into the 

 room should only be preliminary to other and more thorough dis- 

 infection and sterilization of its contents by the application of 

 solutions of disinfectants to the woodwork, and the baking of the 

 mattresses and pillows and the boiling of the linen, etc. 



The Dejecta. — In diphtheria the expectoration and nasal dis- 

 charges are highly infectious and should be received in old rags or 

 in Japanese paper napkins — not handkerchiefs or towels — and 



Fig. 42. — Pasteboard cup for receiving infectious sputum. When used the 

 pasteboard can be removed from the iron frame and burned. 



should be burned. The sputum of tuberculous patients should either 

 be collected in a glazed earthen vessel which can be subjected to 

 boiling and disinfection, or, as is an excellent plan, should be re- 

 ceived in Japanese rice-paper napkins, which can at once be burned. 

 These napkins are not quite so good as the small pasteboard boxes 

 recommended by some city boards of health, because, being highly 

 absorbent, the sputum is apt to soak through and soil the fingers. 



