Disinfectants .are substances which absorb, neutralize or destroy putrescent effluvia and miasmata, and thus remove the causes of infection. The principal disinfectants are chlorine, the chlorides (hypochlorites) of lime and soda, chloride of zinc, charcoal, carbolic acid, the fumes of nitric, nitrous, and sulphurous acids, and ventilation. The clothing, bedding, etc., of patients laboring under contagious diseases, may be effectually disinfected by exposing to a temperature of about that of boiling water. Neither the texture nor color of textile fabrics is injured even by a heat of 250° Fahr. It is a practice at some of the poorhouses to bake the clothes of the paupers who have the itch, or are infested with vermin. Quicklime rapidly absorbs carbonic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, and several other noxious gases, and is therefore commonly used as a wash for the walls of buildings. Acetic acid, camphor, fragrant pastils, cascarilla, and other similar substances, are frequently burnt or volatilized by heat, for the purpose of disguising unpleasant odors. The chlorides as well as the sulphates of iron and lime have the property of rapidly destroying noxious . effluvia. A quantity of either of these sulphates thrown into a cesspool, for instance, will in a few hours remove the fetid smell.

1693. Metropolitan Disinfecting Fluid

1693.       Metropolitan Disinfecting Fluid. The Board of Health of the city of New York have recommended a disinfecting fluid composed of sesquichloride of iron, chloride of manganese, chlorine, and carbolic acid. The sesquichloride of iron has been found by experiment to deodorize more effectually than chloride of lime, sulphate of zinc, or other disinfectants. It is therefore recommended as an important constituent of any disinfectant. Sesquichloride of iron is prepared by dissolving the hydrated sesquiox-ide of iron in muriatic acid; to this is added 10 per cent, of carbolic acid. This forms the fluid in a concentrated form, and is largely diluted with water at the time of using. All night scavengers are compelled by the Board of Health of New York to use it. Its effects are compound. The iron checks fermentation, and the chlorine acts as an oxidizing agent. Its carbolic acid also aids in arresting decomposition and fermentation, and the whole combination, therefore, by its chemical action, decomposes the sulphuretted hydrogen.

1694. To Disinfect Stables and Slaughter-Houses

1694.      To Disinfect Stables and Slaughter-Houses. Dr. Letherby, Health officer of the city of London, says in a recent report on the subject, that the best disinfectant for stables and slaughter-houses is a mixed chloride and hypochlorite of zinc, and it has the advantage of mixing freely with the liquid matters of the slaughter-house, and not tainting the meat with any unpleasant odors; and it is also applicable to the disinfection of houses in place of chloride of lime, which it much resembles in its chemical nature and mode of action.