26 ESSAYS ok BACTERIOLOGY. 



When we come to consider tlie question of disinfec- 

 tion of such substances as clothing, bedding, sputa 

 and feces, it is evident that we are in a much better 

 position to do effective work than our predecessors. 

 We no longer confound deodorants and disinfectants. 

 Every one who has read "The Innocents Abroad" vsall 

 remember the picture of the unfortunate passengers, 

 just landed from their ship, undergoing the horrible 

 and probably quite useless fumigation. There is 

 more than a suspicion that the deodorant properties of 

 the sulphiir were mistaken for disinfeCtaut virtues. 

 We smile at it now, but it was an honest effort. 



Do we wish to know how best to disinfect a bale of 

 rags from Italy? The bacteriological test is compara- 

 tively simple and certain. What method will render 

 tuberculous sputum harmless? The test is the same. 

 Will we learn how to purify the materials from a sick 

 room? Look for the effect upon the agents of infec- 

 tion. The verdict over the pestiferous intruders: 

 "Dead, for a ducat, dead," is worth more than all the 

 odors which sulphurous compounds can emit. 



The intimate relation between bacteriology and the 

 question of the hereditary transmission of disease be- 

 comes at once evident if the truth of the recent ideas 

 as to the cause of the infectious diseases be, admitted. 

 If bacteria are the sole exciting cause of certain dis- 

 eases, if these maladies cannot exist without their 

 agency, then the hereditary transmission of such dis- 

 eases means the transmission from parent to offspring 



