586 
SPOROKTON. 
In reference to the above subject we append a description, 
extracted from f Cooley’s Cyclopaedia/ of several new forms 
of disinfectant which have been brought out by our colleague 
Professor Tuson, and to which he has given the name of 
Sporokton. 
“ In order that the peculiar merits of the preparations 
which have been introduced to the public under the name 
of Sporokton (germ-killer) may be fully appreciated, it is 
desirable to explain the true and individual meanings of 
f Deodoriser/ 4 Antiseptic/ and ‘ Disinfectant ’ — words 
which are too often improperly employed as if they had the 
same signification, and as if, in fact, they were convertible 
terms. 
“ A deodoriser is a substance which will absorb or destroy 
bad smells; an antiseptic is an agent which will prevent or 
retard putrefaction ; and a disinfectant is an agent which will 
render harmless the virus of smallpox, scarlet fever, measles, 
diphtheria, influenza, pleuro-pneumonia, cattle plague, glan¬ 
ders, distemper in dogs, and other infectious or contagious 
diseases. 
“ Now, medical authorities and sanitarians are of opinion 
that the most potent disinfectant with which we are ac¬ 
quainted is sulphurous acid, a gas which has been used for 
ages as a fumigator. Sulphurous acid has not, however, 
been so generally employed for disinfecting purposes as one 
might, from these circumstances, have expected, on account 
of the difficulties and inconveniences which formerly attended 
its generation. 
“ To remove these drawbacks, and to render sulphurous 
acid, both as a gas and in solution, easily and cheaply avail¬ 
able for the above-named and many other applications, 
sporokton has been invented. Several varieties are made ; 
they are as follows 
“ Liquid No. 1.—This preparation consists of a colourless 
solution of a non-volatile antiseptic, usually a salt of zinc, 
impregnated with eighty times its bulk of sulphurous acid 
gas; in other words, one pint of the liquid contains ten 
gallons of gas. Liquid sporokton is, in fact, a combination 
of one of the most powerful antiseptics with the disinfectant ; 
the former ingredient will effectually prevent the putrefaction 
of any solid or liquid animal or vegetable matter with which 
it may come in contact, while the sulphurous acid will 
rapidly pass off in the gaseous state into the surrounding 
