Carbolic Acid as a Disinfectant. — Dr. G. M. Sternberg, of the
United States army, in a report to the National Board of Health,
gives these results of his experiments on the value of disinfectants.
Carbolic acid he finds of little value. He says that "the popular idea
that an odor of carbolic aCid in the sick-room, or in a foul privy, is
evidence that the place is disinfected, is entirely fallacious, and in fact
the use of this agent as a volatile disinfectant is impracticable, be-
cause of the expense of the pure acid, and the enormous quantity
required to produce the desired result."
To have Perfect Ventilation. — Open your windows, pull up
your window blinds, turn up your mattresses and bed-clothes, and
every morning let the products of the night be swept out by the
incoming current of fresh air. Then, all through the day, remember
to have a small chink open at the top of your windows ; or, better
still, raise the lower sash, close the opening beneath with a piece of
wood fitting closely, and so the air will enter at the junction of the
sashes and pass upwards without draught. The secret of ventilation
without draught is a little and constajiily. Once permit the air to
become close and stuffy, and the moment you endeavor to remedy
THE PHYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 2O3
this result of carelessness a cold draught will rush in, and the fear of
injury will prompt you to stop it. The mere fact of living in a close
atmosphere begets a shivery, susceptible condition of body which is
intolerant of the slightest sensation of chill. If you accustom your-
self and your children to fresh air you become robust ; your lungs
play freely, the vital heat is sustained, and even a draught becomes
exhilarating.
Household Dirt. — A most subtle enemy to health, whether at
home or at the seaside, is to be found in the oftentimes cherished
presence of what may be comprehensively called household dirt.
The dirt of an ordinary house, the dirt which may be wiped from
the walls, swept off the furniture and beaten out of the carpets, would
be sufficient, if it were powdered in the form of dust over the patients
in the surgical wards of a great hospital, to bring all their wounds
into a condition which would jeopardize life. It cannot be supposed
that such dirt is innocuous when it is breathed or swallowed, and it
certainly possesses the property of retaining for long periods the con-
tagious matter given off by various diseases. Instances without
number are on record in which the poison of scarlet fever, long
dormant in a dirty house, has been roused into activity by some
probably imperfect or bad attempts at cleansing. The preservation
of health is not a mere mechanical question of the perfection of cer-
tain traps to drains, but depends upon the intelligent avoidance of
the causes by which disease is liable to be produced.
Ventilation of Cellars. — Housekeepers have to deal constantly
with the question of health in their homes, and as the condition of
cellars has much to do with good health, the following article on their
ventilation, which is by Major John P. Hawkins, of the United States
army, is reproduced in these pages :
Page 129
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Carbolic Acid as a Disinfectant. — Dr. G. M. Sternberg, of the United States army, in a report to the National Board of Health, gives these results of his experiments on the value of disinfectants. Carbolic acid he finds of little value. He says that "the popular idea that an odor of carbolic acid in the sick-room, or in a foul privy, is evidence that the place is disinfected, is entirely fallacious, and in fact the use of this agent as a volatile disinfectant is impracticable, because of the expense of the pure acid, and the enormous quantity required to produce the desired result."
To have Perfect Ventilation. — Open your windows, pull up your window blinds, turn up your mattresses and bed-clothes, and every morning let the products of the night be swept out by the incoming current of fresh air. Then, all through the day, remember to have a small chink open at the top of your windows ; or, better still, raise the lower sash, close the opening beneath with a piece of wood fitting closely, and so the air will enter at the junction of the sashes and pass upwards without draught. The secret of ventilation without draught is a little and constantly. Once permit the air to become close and stuffy, and the moment you endeavor to remedy
this result of carelessness a cold draught will rush in, and the fear of injury will prompt you to stop it. The mere fact of living in a close atmosphere begets a shivery, susceptible condition of body which is intolerant of the slightest sensation of chill. If you accustom yourself and your children to fresh air you become robust ; your lungs play freely, the vital heat is sustained, and even a draught becomes exhilarating.
Household Dirt. — A most subtle enemy to health, whether at home or at the seaside, is to be found in the oftentimes cherished presence of what may be comprehensively called household dirt. The dirt of an ordinary house, the dirt which may be wiped from the walls, swept off the furniture and beaten out of the carpets, would be sufficient, if it were powdered in the form of dust over the patients in the surgical wards of a great hospital, to bring all their wounds into a condition which would jeopardize life. It cannot be supposed that such dirt is innocuous when it is breathed or swallowed, and it certainly possesses the property of retaining for long periods the contagious matter given off by various diseases. Instances without number are on record in which the poison of scarlet fever, long dormant in a dirty house, has been roused into activity by some probably imperfect or bad attempts at cleansing. The preservation of health is not a mere mechanical question of the perfection of certain traps to drains, but depends upon the intelligent avoidance of the causes by which disease is liable to be produced.
Ventilation of Cellars. — Housekeepers have to deal constantly with the question of health in their homes, and as the condition of cellars has much to do with good health, the following article on their ventilation, which is by Major John P. Hawkins, of the United States army, is reproduced in these pages :