DISINFECTING OF CLOTHING AND BEDDING 265 



and may be employed for soaking blankets and other 

 articles not injured by water. The blankets should be 

 placed in a tub, the tub filled with water, and formalin 

 added in the proportion mentioned above, or even as 

 strong as one quarter of a pint of formalin to ten gallons of 

 water. A soaking in such a solution will be a thorough 

 disinfection. For heavier articles like mattresses and 

 comfortables, which cannot be soaked, there is no satis- 

 factory method of disinfection. If there are at hand facili- 

 ties for steaming, these articles may be disinfected ; but 

 this is never possible at home, and can only be done by 

 health boards. Mattresses in particular are difificult to 

 disinfect and cannot be rendered perfectly safe. For this 

 reason care should be taken that only mattresses of little 

 value are used in contagious diseases, so that later they may 

 be destroyed. They may, however, be protected consider- 

 ably by covering them with a rubber blanket, which will 

 prevent their becoming contaminated. Carpets and heavy 

 curtains can be disinfected satisfactorily only by means of 

 superheated steam, and this is rarely possible in a private 

 house. Care should be taken, therefore, to remove such 

 articles from a room in which there is any contagious 

 disease. 



Treatment of the Sick Room 



While occupied. A room in which there is a case of 

 contagious disease is, under the very best circumstances, 

 a source of danger to all persons within the house, and it 

 must be most carefully guarded to protect the other mem- 

 bers of the family from danger. The treatment of the 

 room during its occupancy and after its vacation must be 



