554 
Combating Lo usiness 
Ref. 
No. 
with wooden grids, the barrels being placed over a closed-in pit in which 
sulphur is burnt beneath the effects in the barrels, an hour’s exposure being 
deemed sufficient to kill bee. Professor Mary of Paris informed me in August 
1915, that SO, led into barrels had been used in the French army since Oct. 
1914, it having been found that the gas killed lice and nits; it gave satisfac¬ 
tory results after being used on a large scale in conjunction with baths. In 
Germany, the Grassberger apparatus has been much employed; here stick 
sulphur is broken up and placed with methylated spirit in iron gutters covered 
by guards; when ignited, a considerable degree of heat maybe produced which 
would help in killing lice; the Walther apparatus is also recommended as being 
simpler, it burns 4-5 kilos of sulphur per 100 cbm. space. The Clayton apparatus 
has been much used in the British army; here the sulphur is burnt in a furnace 
in a draught of air induced by a pump, the cooled gases entering the chamber 
and the air in the latter being drawn out and pumped in again until the 
atmosphere within the chamber contains the desired S0 2 % (3 % being usually 
regarded as sufficient when acting for 2-3 hrs). Galaine and Houlbert describe 
an apparatus which automatically diffuses the gas issuing from a steel receptacle 
containing liquid S0 2 , the gas passing to the chamber through a spiral tube 
traversing a water boiler. Steel cylinders with liquid S0 2 have long been used 
for disinfection, 9 kilos of S0 2 being reckoned per 100 cbm. space 1 . 
According to Kisskalt and Friedmann, burning carbon bisulphide gives much 
better results with lice than when sulphur is burnt; it is also stated to be 
cheaper. For this purpose the authors, Nocht and Halberkann, and also Mense, 
recommend that a mixture of CS 2 90 %, methylated spirit 5 %, and water 5 % 
be used, 2-5 kilos of the mixture being reckoned per 100 cbm. and the exposure 
lasting 6 hrs. This mixture is stated by Mense to be equally good and much 
cheaper than a commercial preparation called “Salfarkose” sold in Hamburg 
and recommended by some authors; this preparation consists of CS 2 90%, 
with water, alcohol, formalin and mustard oil together 10 %. (See No. 384 
regarding dangers, etc.) 
466. Tar preparations, for corporis. 
Crude birch-tar (5 %) in water is recommended for the impreg¬ 
nation of underclothes; these become slightly stained and are 
stated to repel lice afterwards for 10-15 days (Engelhardt); it is 
also recommended for impregnating bandages (Swoboda). Black 
birch-tar (10 %) in alkaline water is recommended for steeping 
underwear, Russian observers believing that clothes thus treated 
keep away vermin (Marzinowsky, Popov). Crude birch-tar (1 %) 
in 50 % petroleum emulsion is stated to kill lice and render clothing 
odorous for a long time (Engelhardt). Crude tar oil 4 oz. per 2 lbs. 
of soft paraffin is recommended as an ointment by Peacock to be 
1 Those interested in S0 2 fumigation should consult Notes for Sanitary Officers, B.E.F., 
France, 1917, pp. 46-56. 
