Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    water destroy bacteria very rapidly, usually within a few minutes. Live steam acts somewhat slower, although it kills even the most resistant forms in about half an hour. As a rule, articles to be disinfected are exposed to live steam for at least an hour. Whatever comes in contact with a patient suffering from an infectious disease should be burned if of no value, and this applies especially to dressings soiled by purulent discharges. The linen for the bed and for personal use, as well as all metal objects, may be disinfected by boiling water. Live steam may be used for cleansing the wearing apparel. The commonly employed chemical disinfectants, which in dilute solutions may also be used in dressing wounds, are watery solutions of boric acid (5 to 10 per cent.), carbolic acid (i to 5 per cent.), creoline (5 per cent.), lysol (5 to 10 per cent.), formaldehyde (i per cent.), salicylic acid (i to 3 per cent.), corrosive sublimate (J to I per cent.), and also soap and chloride of lime. Objects exposed to the action of these solutions require varying periods of time for their disin- fection, de]:)ending on the strength. The choice of method must be governed by the character of the articles about to be sterilised. Linen which is to be boiled later may be soaked for twelve hours before removal from the sick-room in a 5 per cent, solution of cresol soap, or wrapped in cloths saturated in a solution of carbolic acid. Before throwing the dejecta into the toilet, they should be mixed with a solution of carbolic acid or with several spoonfuls of chloride of lime, and allowed to stand for twenty minutes. Vomited matter must be similarly treated. For disinfecting the water after a body bath, in a case of typhoid or other disease, four tablespoonfuls of chloride of lime are necessary. When this has been used, all metallic vessels must be thoroughly rinsed off with water ; otherwise they are liable to be attacked by the chlorine-gas. Any soiling of the toilet seat should be carefully cleansed with soft soap. Furs and leather goods cannot be disinfected with live steam ; they should be thoroughly aired, and may then be treated with one of the disinfecting solutions. Great importance attaches to the careful cleansing of the hands after having touched the patient or any objects with which he may have come in contact. They should be scrubbed with soap and plenty of warm water for at least five minutes, then rinsed, and finally immersed for from five to ten minutes in lysol or in a i per cent, sublimate solution. Especial care should be given to the cleansing of the nails. Rings must be removed and scrubbed, particularly on their inner surface. Personal infection may thus be avoided in many cases. A very convenient mode of disinfecting the sick-chamber, together with the objects it contains, is by means of formaline vapour. This is done as follows. All oj)enings, as windows, keyholes, cracks of the doors, etc., are carefully sealed with cotton rags, strips of gummed paper, or adhesive ]daister. Dra]')eries and similar articles are spread out so as to expose the