66 
DEODORIZERS AND DISINFECTANTS. 
triple compound, perhaps of all other possible combinations the best for 
agricultural purposes, viz., the triple phosphate of magnesia and ammonia. 
“ In the treatment of sewage or other similar matter in an advanced 
stage of decomposition, containing any considerable per centage of ammonia, 
we find it advantageous to add a soluble phosphate, as the quantity of 
phosphoric acid in the substance to be operated upon is not, in the circum- 
stances, sufficient to permit the formation of the triple phosphate. 
“Thus, then, we use sulphurous acid to remove the offensive smell, 
carbolic acid to prevent putrefactive fermentation, a little lime to neutralise 
and dry this latter acid, and magnesia to combine with and preserve the 
phosphoric acid and ammonia ; and in special cases, we add a soluble phos- 
phate to prevent the loss of any of the ammonia. 
“ Such is the theory of the Disinfecting Powder. Theoretically, it is 
perfect, leaving nothing to be desired, and in practice, it has not fallen 
short of the just expectations which were formed of its probable results in 
actual use. It has rendered dwelling-houses which were previously fetid 
and unsanitary — pleasant and wholesome ; it has secured a pure atmo- 
sphere in the stable, the cow-house, the kennel, and the piggery, wherever 
it has been used. In the hospital and the camp it has proved one of the 
most welcome boons sent, although late, to our army in the East. Its use 
in vaults, graveyards, and coffins has been so satisfactory, and withal so 
cleanly and pleasant, as to afford, at a mere nominal cost, an entire relief 
from the most distressing annoyance incidental to the performance of our 
last duties to the dead.” 
When will some such expedient as this be adopted to deodo- 
rize, and 5 at the same time, to preserve the fertilizing matters of 
the sewage of towns? It has been calculated that £100,000 
worth of decomposing organic substances are annually carried 
into the Thames alone ; thus converting that noble river into 
a tidal ditch. Were these collected — and surely it might 
be done — they would furnish manure enough for the whole 
of England ; and being buried beneath the soil — its proper 
place — the elements thereof would become the food of plants, 
and not be, as now, the means of generating disease and 
death. 
Carbonic acid gas is a well known antiputrescent, and re- 
tards the decomposition of organic bodies. How it acts as 
the first has not been satisfactorily explained. Ammonia 
being invariably present among the compounds given off by 
putrifying matters containing nitrogen, it may be that it 
combines with and neutralizes this substance, and in doing so 
entangles other of the gaseous emanations, and hence some of 
the hydrosulphates are the result. As an antiseptic, it possibly 
operates by surrounding the molecule with an atmosphere of 
its own, thus preventing the access of the oxygen of the air. 
It is to the disengagement of this gas that a yeast poultice 
owes its therapeutic properties. 
A very common disinfectant fluid used in hospitals is the 
nitrate of lead ; made by adding carbonate of lead to nitric 
