332 
State  Control  of  Diseases. 
j  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1      July,  1910. 
performed  in  the  presence  of  a  live  fire  or  flame  in  the  room.  A 
separate  container  should  be  used  for  every  pint  of  formaldehyde 
solution  and  proportionate  amount  of  potassium  permanganate  re- 
quired. It  would  be  well  to  surround  the  vessel  within  which  the 
container  is  placed,  for  a  distance  of  at  least  three  feet,  with  some 
absorptive  material  to  receive  any  stray  bubbles,  thereby  protecting 
the  floor  from  any  possibility  of  resulting  stains. 
This  cut  shows  the  Pennsylvania  State  Department  of  Health's 
modification  of  the  vessel  designed  by  the  Maine  State  Board  of 
Health  for  use  in  liberating  formaldehyde  gas  from  a  water  solution, 
by  means  of  potassium  permanganate. 
Vessel  for  use  in  liberating  formaldehyde  gas  from  a  water  solution,  by  means  of  potassium 
permanganate.  The  larger  funnel-shaped  container  measures  15  inches  diameter  at  the  top;  11 
inches  at  the  bottom,  the  inside  depth  or  height  of  the  flaring  part  5  inches,  and  the  depth  or 
height  of  the  lower  part  6  inches.  The  pan  measures  15  inches  diameter  at  the  top,  11  inches  at 
the  bottom  and  has  a  straight  height  or  depth  of  5  inches.  The  dimensions  of  the  vessel  have 
been  fixed  by  empirical  trial  as  amnle  for  the  diffusion  of  the  gas.  reducing  the  danger  from  igni- 
tion when  in  contact  with  a  live  flame  to  a  minimum.  The  pan  within  which  water  is  placed 
interlocks  with  the  container  proper,  leaving  sufficient  space  between  the  vessels  for  the  circula- 
tion of  water  which  protects  the  floor  from  heat  generated  by  the  chemical  action.  For  conveni- 
ence in  carrying,  the  pan  is  made  to  nest  in  the  top  of  the  container  proper.  Three  pints  of  liquid 
formaldehyde  and  twenty-four  ounces  of  potassium  permanganate  may  be  safely  used  in  this 
vessel  without  danger  of  overflow. 
A  cardinal  point  in  disinfection  is  to  attack  the  germ  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment  after  its  escape  from  the  body.  Especially 
in  all  water-borne  diseases,  "  Death  in  the  bedpan  "  should  be  our 
slogan.  And  this  leads  me  to  call  attention  to  the  discovery  in 
our  laboratories  of  the  presence  of  the  germs  of  tuberculosis  in 
sewage  which  will  make  it  necessary  to  place  that  disease  in  the 
water-borne  category,  as  a  reasonable  possibility. 
Prophylaxis. — Among  prophylactics  vaccination  for  smallpox 
is  of  course  facile  prince ps. 
