ON  CHARCOAL  AS  A  DISINFECTANT. 
171 
the  sores,  but  is  placed  above  the  dressings,  not  unfrequently 
quilted  loosely  into  a  little  cotton  wool.  In  many  cases  patients 
whowere  rapidly  sinking  have  been  restored  to  health. 
In  the  instance  of  hospital  gangrene,  we  have  to  deal  not  only 
with  effluvia,  but  also  with  real  miasmata ;  for,  as  is  well  known, 
the  poisonous  gases  emitted  by  gangrenous  sores  not  only  affect 
the  individual  with  whom  the  mischief  has  originated,  but  readily 
infect  the  perfectly  healthy  wounds  of  any  individuals  who  may 
happen  to  be  in  its  vicinity.  So  fchat  in  this  way  gangrene  has 
been  known  to  spread  not  only  through  one  ward,  but  through 
several  wards  of  the  same  hospital. 
Within  the  last  few  weeks  the  dissecting  room  at  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's Hospital  has  been  perfectly  deodorized  by  means  of  a 
few  trays  filled  with  a  thin  layer  of  freshly  heated  wood  charcoal. 
A  similar  arrangement  will,  in  all  probability,  be  likewise  soon 
applied  to  the  wards  of  St.  Bartholomew's,  and  every  other  well- 
conducted  hospital. 
From  these  and  other  considerations,  therefore,  I  feel  perfectly 
confident  that  charcoal  will  prove  by  far  the  cheapest  and  best 
disinfectant. 
Unlike  many  other  disinfectants,  it  evolves  no  disagreeable 
vapors,  and  if  heated  in  close  vessels,  will  always  act,  however 
long  it  has  been  in  use,  quite  as  effectively  as  at  first. 
If  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  therefore,  when  placed  in  unhealthy 
situations,  were  furnished  with  charcoal  respirators,  such  as  the 
second  form  above  described,  and  if  the  floors  of  the  tents  and 
the  lower  decks  of  ships  were  covered  by  a  thin  layer  of  freshly 
burnt  wood  charcoal,  I  think  we  could  have  little  in  future  tD 
apprehend  from  the  ravages  of  cholera,  yellow  fever,  and  similar 
diseases  by  which  our  forces  have  of  late  been  decimated.  If 
found  more  convenient,  the  charcoal  powder  might  be  covered 
with  coarse  canvas,  without  its  disinfectant  properties  being 
materially  impaired. 
The  efficiency  of  the  charcoal  may  be  greatly  increased  by 
making  it  red-hot  before  using  it.  This  can  easily  be  done  by 
heating  it  in  an  iron  saucepan  covered  by  an  iron  lid. 
When  the  charcoal  is  to  be  applied  to  inflammable  substances, 
such  as  wooden  floors,  &c,  of  course  it  must  be  allowed  to  cool 
in  close  vessels  before  being  used. 
