A treatise on Asiatic cholera / edited and prepared by Edmund Charles Wendt, in association with Drs. John C. Peters, Ely McClellan, John B. Hamilton, and Geo. M. Sternberg.
- Edmund Charles Wendt
- Date:
- 1885
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on Asiatic cholera / edited and prepared by Edmund Charles Wendt, in association with Drs. John C. Peters, Ely McClellan, John B. Hamilton, and Geo. M. Sternberg. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Gerstein Science Information Centre at the University of Toronto, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Gerstein Science Information Centre, University of Toronto.
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![disease germs. Rut the hypochlorite of lime, which is freely soluble in water, and which is present in properly prepared chloride of lime in the proportion of 20 to 40 per cent., is a most potent oxidizing disinfectant. The liv])Ochlorites are not quite as pleasant to use in the sick-room as the odorless solution of mercuric chloride which we have reconnnended, but, on the other hand, they are deodorizers as well as disinfectants, and de- stroy noxious effluvia as Avell as germs, without being decidedly objection- able on account of their odor. For the disinfection of excreta the hypo- chlorites are to be especially commended on account of their prompt action, and because they are free from the objection which suggests itself with ref- erence to the use of mercuric chloride—viz., a possible injurious action upon lead })ipe. Labarracpie's solution, as found in the market, differs considerably in value, which, as stated, is estimated in terms of chlorine. A solution containing two per cent, of available chlorine promptly destroys germs of all kinds, including spores, when diluted with four or five parts of water. For the destruction of cholera germs and other organisms itot containing spores, in liquid fa?ces, such a solution could doubtless be diluted with safety to one part in twenty, the time of contact being two hours. But as in practice there will be a disposition to make the time of contact as brief as possible, and to empty the contents of a vessel containing choleraic discharges into the nearest water-closet or privy vault as soon as }iossible, we think it best to insist upon the use of comparatively strong solutions. It will be understood that in all of the practical directions given for the disinfection of excreta the amount of the disinfecting solution used must equal that of the material to be disinfected. When used in the liberal manner which we advise, the question of cost becomes an important one. If this solution is to be purchased from retail druggists in quart l)ottles the cost of disinfection in a case of cholera or of typhoid fever will often be beyond the means of poor persons. But we hope to see this and other reliable disinfectants furnished by health officers, or by their authorized agents, by the gallon, or barrel, at a price which M-iil bring them within the reach of all, or better still at the expense of the public treasury. I am informed that a solution containing two per cent, of available chlorine could be sold by the quantity as low as 40 cents per gallon. This diluted Avith four gallons of water would give five gallons of a prompt and reliable disinfecting solution for 40 cents. Using a pint of the solution for each liquid fscal discharge, the expense of disinfection would be one cent for each dejection. The hypochlorite of lime, to Avhich the commercial chloride of lime owes its value as a disinfectant, is equally effective, and still cheaper. Accord- ing to Dr. Duggan this contains usually from 25 to 40 per cent, of available chlorine. One pound, therefore, dissolved in from ten to tAventy pints of Avater Avould give a solution of calcium hypochlorite containing 2 per cent, of available chlorine. Diluting this to the same extent as recom- mended in the case of the sodium salt, Ave would have from one pound of chloride of lime of the best quality (40 per cent, of aA'ailable chlorine) twelve gallons and a half of disinfecting solution, the cost of Avhich Avould not exceed ten cents. (By the quantity chloride of lime can be purchased for four to five cents a pound.) It is hardly necessary to look for any- thing cheaper than this solution, and carefully conducted laboratory ex- periments shoAv that it destroys the vitality of putrefaction bacteria, in- cluding A-arious species of bacilli awe? their spores, Avithin a very brief time.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20996421_0357.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
