460 Combating Lousiness 
into wooden barracks of 4000 cbm. capacity in the manner described, 
raised the temperature to 78-96° C. within 2 hours either in winter or 
summer. He found that any boiler delivering a sufficient volume of 
steam answered the purpose as well as a stationary engine. 
Blumberg adds in a postscript that a stationary engine having a 
heating surface of 21 square metres, working at a pressure of 12 atmo¬ 
spheres, when it delivered steam into a wooden barrack (covered all over 
with felt) of 600 cbm. capacity, converted the barrack into an efficient 
disinfector, for it was capable of dealing with all the belongings of 700 
prisoners or 1300 uniforms at a time, a temperature of 120° C. being 
attained inside the barrack within 1-3 hours. He therefore recommends 
the construction of two such barracks served alternately by one engine. 
The author states that by this means he has rid the prisoners at 
Brandenburg of lice. 
Comments. 
We may now conclude the description of improvised methods of dis¬ 
infection and disinfestation, and consider the more perfect machinery 
supplied by firms dealing in such apparatus. It will be at once seen that 
in face of the great demand due to the war, and the necessity of dealing 
with enormous amounts of infected articles, that these forms of apparatus 
can only cope in a small degree with the demands that are made upon 
them. Whilst admirably adapted for long continued use under the peace 
conditions in which they were evolved, their cost 1 and the sudden 
demand upon their production render it impossible in many cases to 
employ them. It is because of the many emergencies that have arisen in 
the course of the war, where requisite apparatus had to be quickly 
improvised on the spot, that so much stress has been laid on makeshift 
methods, especially those designed to deal with lice. The high standards 
of efficiency attained by regular disinfectors on the basis of their 
capability of dealing with bacteria or their heat resisting spores do not 
appear necessary for mere louse destruction. Elaborate apparatus is 
wasted on lice which are readily dealt with by simpler means and lower 
temperatures. Nevertheless an apparatus which can fulfil every demand 
is always to be preferred if obtainable. 
1 Captain Grant (MS. Report. W.O., 1918) states that the horse-drawn Thresh costs 
three times as much as a steam hut (Type A, p. 459). their relative capacities in terms of 
blankets being as 36-40 : 200. Whilst the “ Ibis ” Disinfector, delivering 60 blankets an 
hour, is stated to cost £288. 
