^"selrSiT'}  Theonj  of  Disinfedcmts.  417 
search,  the  second  borne  out  by  analogy,  viz.,  that  infection  results 
from  the  transference  and  development  of  minute  germs ;  and  that 
these  germs  contain  albuminous  matter  as  a  necessary  constituent, 
the  coagulation  of  which  terminates  their  existence.  Upon  these 
assumptions  we  frame  our  major  premiss, — that  "  all  coagulators  of 
albumen  are  disinfectants  ;"  and,  having  arrived  at  this  result  by  a 
process  of  pure  reasoning,  we  proceed  to  prove  its  truth  by  experi- 
ments upon  the  antiseptic,  and  so  upon  the  disinfectant,  properties  of 
a  well-known  albumen-coagulator.  Having  thus  established  our 
fundamental  proposition,  we  produce  experimental  proof  of  our  minor 
premiss — that  "  nearly  all  the  substances  to  which  popular  experience 
has  assigned  the  property  of  arresting  the  spread  of  infectious  dis- 
eases,  where  that  power  is  at  present  unexplained,  are  coagulators  of 
albumen."  The  conclusion  then  necessarily  follows,  that  these  sub- 
stances are  disinfectants ;  and  thus  a  vindication  of  their  efficiency  is 
furnished  in  those  cases  where  it  has  been  called  in  question  by 
chemists  on  the  ground  that  no  sufficient  explanation  of  their  action 
had  been  offered. 
The  above  conclusion  does  not  apply  to  sulphurous  acid  and  the 
sulphites.  In  their  case,  we  must  probably  look  for  some  more  remote 
physiological  effect  upon  germinal  existence. 
Note  on  the  Use  of  Hydrochloric  Acid  as  an  Antiseptic. 
It  is  probable  that  hydrochloric  acid,  which  shares  the  properties 
attributed  to  nitro-hydrochloric  acid  in  the  foregoing  remarks,  will  be 
found  to  be  a  valuable  preservative  of  animal  food.  A  piece  of  meat, 
immersed  for  fifteen  minutes  in  a  mixture  of  one  part  of  the  acid  to 
three  of  water,  remained  entirely  free  from  putrefactive  change  after 
nearly  a  fortnight,  though  the  action  of  the  acid  was  not  sufficiently 
powerful  to  prevent  the  appearance  of  a  small  quantity  of  mould. 
The  meat  was  then  immersed  in  a  dilute  solution  of  carbonate  of  soda, 
and  the  superficially  absorbed  acid  was  thus  converted  into  common 
salt.  This  reaction  obviously  giv^es  hydrochloric  acid  a  great  advan- 
tage over  other  antiseptics,  which  introduce  into  the  food  a  foreign 
substance,  inimical  by  its  very  nature,  in  most  cases,  to  the  process 
of  digestion. — London  Pliarm.  Journ.,  July  22,  1871,  from  The 
British  Medical  Journal. 
27 
