February 4,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
625 
anhydride is accordingly liable to vary. Prepared 
with a larger quantity of nitric acid its colour is 
lighter, while it contains a greater percentage of 
iodic anhydride. When the amount of acid is not 
quite sufficient to cause the formation of the normal 
salt, the resulting precipitate is probably a mixture 
of normal and basic iodates. Digestion with warm 
dilute nitric acid converts any of these basic mix¬ 
tures into the neutral compound. 
Of these three ferric iodates the normal compound 
would seem the best suited for medical use in conse¬ 
quence of its great stability. The iodates as a class 
undoubtedly require further examination. 
THE APPLICATION OF DISINFECTANTS. 
Now that smallpox, fever and other contagious dis¬ 
eases are prevalent amongst us, the knowledge of how 
to apply the substances which are used as disinfectants 
is of much importance. The chemist, as the vendor, is 
often consulted as to the best way of using a certain dis¬ 
infectant, and having ascertained the purpose for which 
it is required, should be able to give a judicious and 
ready reply. 
First among disinfectants is carbolic acid. Its uni¬ 
versal adaptability, its extensive use in most of the me¬ 
tropolitan hospitals, and during the cattle plague, en¬ 
title it to this rank. It has advantages which no other 
disinfectant can boast of, being capable of application 
either as a fluid or as a vapour; the fluid not injuring 
the fabric to which it is applied, and the vapour when 
breathed being comparatively harmless. 
There are several ways of applying this substance. 
In solution, a good strength is one part of the crystal¬ 
lized acid to thirty of water. This is suitable for sprink¬ 
ling the floor, clothing, bedding, etc. A very good way 
of using it is to keep clothes continually wetted with it, 
and suspend them in the room. For pouring down 
drains and the immersion of linen and other infected 
articles, one in fifty is strong enough. As vapour it may 
be evolved by keeping a solution of the first strength 
constantly evaporating; or another more simple and 
effectual method is to make a fire-shovel hot and pour 
upon it a little of the strong solution at regular inter¬ 
vals. The patient and those in attendance should 
likewise wash with carbolizcd soap. 
Manganate and permanganate of potash are valuable 
as disinfectants and deodorizers on account of their oxi¬ 
dizing powers in the presence of organic matter. The 
Pharmacopoeia solution of the permanganate is strong- 
enough for all the purposes to which it can be applied. 
If the patient drinks much water, a few drops of this 
solution in each glassful will do good. As a wash for 
the mouth, one drachm to an ounce is a suitable strength. 
All utensils for the reception of evacuations should be 
charged with this solution. For sprinkling the floors, 
clothing and bedding, and pouring down drains, two 
drams to the ounce should be used. A weaker solution 
is very useful for rinsing the hands. 
Chlorinated lime is a substance so well known, and its 
application so simple, that most persons are instructed 
m its use; its cheapness recommends it to the poorer 
classes, and, I believe, its use is generally appreciated 
by them. In places where it is strewn, it should bo 
renewed every twenty-four hours, as by that time it 
generally loses its freshness. A portion of it placed in 
a pail of water for the washing of floors is a wise precau¬ 
tion at all times. 
Sulphurous acid gas is liberated by burning sulphur. 
It is a powerful destroyer of the germs of contagion, but 
owing to its deleterious and suffocating odoiu- it cannot 
be introduced in any quantity to the room of a sick 
person ; nevertheless, it is very useful. 
Mr. [Startin, the senior surgeon to the Hospital for 
Diseases of the Skin, Blackfriars, in a communication to 
the British Medical Journal, recommends the following- 
method of fumigation to be used for the purpose of 
preventing the spread of contagious diseases. For dis¬ 
infecting beds and bedding, a warming-pan or some 
other suitable utensil, containing a few live embers, 
upon which a teaspoonful or two of flowers of sulphur 
has been thrown, should be passed to and fro between 
the sheets until the combustion of the sulphur is com¬ 
plete. After a few minutes the patient may enter the 
bed.. Should the fumes prove too stimulating for his 
respiratory organs, they may be intercepted by holding 
a loosely folded damp handkerchief before the mouth 
until they have subsided. To disinfect clothing it should 
be lightly sponged or sprinkled with water containing 
well-mingled milk of sulphur, in the proportion of a 
teaspoonful to a pint of water, and then ironed with a 
flat iron, heated to a temperature sufficient to volatilize 
the sulphur without burning the clothing. This process 
should be repeated according to the extent and duration 
of the infection. 
Dr. Walter Fergus, writing to the same journal, says 
that ho has found the readiest method of' developing- 
sulphurous acid fumes to be by igniting two parts of 
flowers of sulphur and one of powdered charcoal on any 
incombustible surface, such as a saucer or a bit of tin. 
He says also that sulphurous acid is not so much an 
irritant as it has the appearance of being. An atmo¬ 
sphere highly charged with it may bo breathed with 
very small inconvenience, which soon passes off. Dr. 
Fergus has used it with benefit in cases of the affection 
known as “ hay-fever.” 
A correspondent says, in reference to the above 
method, that it is open to several objections. He much 
questions whether a patient could remain in the room 
after the burning of two teaspoonfuls of sulphur; under 
any circumstances it would produce a most irritating- 
cough, even if the wot handkerchief were applied to the 
mouth, as there is a limit to the absorption of this gas 
by moisture. The hot cinders are not necessary for its 
ignition, the sulphur will readily take fire, and burn on 
the application of a lucifer match. 
The disinfecting properties of chlorine are well known. 
It can be eliminated by the action of hydrochloric acid 
on chlorinated lime, or sulphuric acid on peroxide of 
manganese and salt. From its poisonous properties it is 
open to the same objections as sulphurous acid; the same 
rules may be observed for its application. 
In bonclusion, we give the following list of precau¬ 
tions adopted in a recent case of typhus fever. When 
the medical attendant discovered the nature of the case, 
he ordered immediate disinfection with carbolic acid 
andCondy’s fluids. The room in which the patient lay was 
stripped of the whole of its furniture, leaving nothing 
that was not required for the use of the patient. The 
floor was then washed with a solution of chlorinated 
lime, and afterwards well sprinkled with solution of car¬ 
bolic acid one to thirty. Cloths kept wet with this 
solution were suspended in the room, and the bedding was 
lightly sprinkled. Three times a day, at regular inter¬ 
vals, a drachm of the strong acid was poured upon a hot 
fire-shovel and moved about the room. All clothing, 
bedding, etc., when removed from the patient, was im¬ 
mersed in a solution of the acid one to fifty. He was 
washed with carbolizcd soap. All utensils for the recep¬ 
tion of evacuations were kept charged with Condy’s 
fluids; a weaker solution of the same was used as a 
gargle. This plan -was strictly followed for three days, 
when the patient sank and died. As soon as possible 
after death the fireplace and windows were securely 
closed, and a tablcspoontul of sulphur placed in a vessel 
and ignited. The door -was then closed, and the room 
loft in this condition three hours, after which the win¬ 
dows were opened from the exterior. Soon afterwards 
the remains were placet in a shell containing charcoal. 
The paper was then stripped from the walls, and the 
