294 BACTERIA, YEASTS, AND MOLDS 



and inefficient, and it is believed to give to the inmates of 

 the house a feeling of false security. It is the convalescing 

 patient that is the source of danger to the rest of the house- 

 hold, not the room he has vacated, and to allow him to leave 

 the room and mingle with the family, giving them a feeling of 

 security by disinfecting his room, is the height of unwisdom. 

 Then, too, experiment has shown that these gaseous dis- 

 infectants cannot be relied upon as actually disinfecting the 

 room. To treat a room by this method is very easy and 

 therefore widely adopted, but it is not regarded to-day as of 

 much value and is being abandoned. 



The best method of preparing a room for reoccupancy is 

 as follows : Carpets, bedding, curtains, and all cloth material 

 should be removed and disinfected as above mentioned. 

 Then all surfaces of the room, including walls, ceilings, floor, 

 tables, chairs, and especially cracks around mopboards and 

 floor, should be washed freely with chloride-of-lime solution, 

 about one pound to six gallons of water. The room should 

 then be aired by having the windows open for a day, after 

 which it is ready for occupancy. Such a room is safer than 

 one which has been "fumigated" by any gaseous disinfectant. 

 It is well to remember that while most disease germs die 

 quickly upon being dried, the tuberculosis bacillus may remain 

 alive in a room for weeks or even months, and for this 

 reason more care should be exercised in the room occupied 

 by a consumptive than in the case of any other disease. 



