STERILIZATION AND DISINFECTION. 121

is only possible in hospitals, the next best thing- is boiling
for some time in the ordinary wash-boiler. When pos^
sible, the clothes should be soaked in i: 2000 bichlorid
solution before or after boiling, and in drying should
hang in the sun and wind. Woollen underwear can be
treated exactly as if of cotton. The woollen clothing of
the patient, if infected, requires special treatment. For-
tunately, the infection of the outer woollen garments is
unusual. The only reliable method for their purification
is prolonged exposure to hot air at 110° C. In private
practice it becomes a grave question what shall be done
with these articles. Prolonged exposure to fresh air and
sunlight will aid in rendering them harmless; when it
is certain that articles of wool are infected, they may be
sent to the city hospital or to certain of the moth-destroy-
ing and fumigating establishments which can be found
in all large cities, and be baked.

The Furniture, etc.—The wholesale destruction of fur-
niture practised in earlier times has at present become
unnecessary. The doctor, if he properly performs his
functions, will save much trouble and money for his
patient by ordering the immediate isolation of his charge
in an uncarpeted, scantily- and cheaply-furnished room
the moment an infectious disease is suspected^ before
much infection can have occurred. However, if before
his removal the patient has occupied another bed, its
clothing should be promptly handled in the above-
described manner.

After the illness the walls of the rooms, including the
ceiling should be sprayed with formalin, or, where it can-
not be obtained, may be rubbed with fresh bread, which
Loffler has shown to be efficacious, though scarcely prac-
ticable, in collecting the bacteria, or, if possible, should
be whitewashed. If the walls are hung with paper, they
may be dampened with i : 1000 bichlorid-of-mercury so-
lution before new paper is hung.

Aronson1 says: uFor the disinfection of living-rooms

lVereinfilr Offentliche Gesundheitspflege, Berlin, April 26, 1897.