112 
all the objects in the room, and breathed in with the air. Ordinary 
dry sweeping stirs up a great deal of dust which settles again over 
the same or different parts of the room and meanwhile pollutes 
the air. This method of sweeping, therefore, is worse than none at 
all. The proper method of cleaning floors is by using a damp mop, 
not by sweeping. The mop should be dipped in a bucket of water, 
wrung out, rubbed on the floor, then washed and rinsed in another 
bucket of water. The method of cleaning floors by flooding them 
with water and then scrubbing and sweeping is bad, because the 
dampness promotes the growth of bacteria and the water gets into 
the holes and fissures, causing the wood to warp and crack. 
A practice by which much labor in sweeping and scrubbing may be 
saved is that of coating the floors of bunk nouses with an oil floor 
dressing. The particles of dust adhere to the dressing, but may be 
removed easily by sweeping, because they are too heavy to rise and 
float in the air. 
Such a dressing preserves the wood and tends to keep out vermin 
and insects. Oil dressings for this purpose are well known and exten- 
sively used and may be purchased through almost any hardware store. 
The price ranges from 20 to 30 cents a gallon in 1-barrel lots, contain- 
ing from 50 to 53 gallons. It is also possible to purchase the dressing 
in 5-gallon lots, but at a higher price. One gallon properly applied 
will cover about 600 square feet of floor space, and a single application 
is said to be effective for two or three months. 
Spittoons. 
Spittoons are used in some camps, but not in all. In many cases 
boxes filled with sawdust are provided, and the contents are burned 
each day. Such boxes, while far better than nothing, are almost 
impossible to clean and disinfect, and while being dumped on the fire 
the sawdust contaminated with sputum is often caught by the wind 
and scattered broadcast about the camp. A much better receptacle 
for the sputum is a metal or fiber spittoon which rests firmly on the 
floor and has a wide opening to permit easy cleaning. Spittoons 
should be removed each day to the place where other excreta are dis- 
posed of and cleaned, preferably with boiling water, then partially 
filled with a disinfecting solution. Since, without the knowledge of 
the men who eject it, sputum may contain the germs of tuberculosis, 
diphtheria, pneumonia, and many other diseases, rules against pro- 
miscuous spitting about the camp and in the quarters should be 
enforced rigidly. 
Vermin. 
Convict camps are especially liable to vermin infestation, and con- 
stant care and watchfulness are necessary to keep the quarters free. 
The bathing of all incoming prisoners and disinfection of their cloth- 
