SULPHUR—FORMALDEHYDE—FORMALIN. 
Floors, woodwork, etc., should be again wiped 
over with a cloth wrung out of carbolic acid so¬ 
lution (5%) live per cent. 
FORMALDEHYDE FUMIGATION. 
Formaldehyde is more reliable for fumiga¬ 
tion than sulphur, and is less dangerous to in¬ 
spire. It is a gas made by burning methyl alco¬ 
hol, commonly called wood-alcohol, in a specially 
constructed lamp. One and a half pints of alco¬ 
hol are required for each one thousand cubic feet 
of air space. The process of converting this 
amount of alcohol into formaldehyde gas or 
vapor takes less than two hours, and the rooms 
or wards are ready for free ventilation at the 
expiration of eight hours. Observe the same 
method of packing crevices of doors, windows, 
transoms, etc., and of closing grate openings and 
key holes as described in sulphur fumigation. 
As so many formaldehyde lamps are unrelia¬ 
ble, some have found it more satisfactory to use 
formalin solution, which contains forty per cent, 
of formaldehyde. The formalin is boiled in a 
special apparatus and the gas passed into the 
room to be fumigated by means of a tube inserted 
through a key-hole or other small opening. One 
gallon of the preparation will supply sufficient 
gas to purify about twelve hundred cubic feet of 
air space. 
Advantages of 
Formaldehyde. 
Some Lamps 
Unsatisfactory. 
91 
