APPENDIX A.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE COMMON DISINFECTANTS, WITH A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH, AND THE AVERAGE PRICE AT RETAIL.
Carbolic Acid.—A product of the distillation of coal-tar. When pure and free from water, a transparent crystalline solid. Dissolves in twenty parts of cold water. Coagulates albuminous matters. A one-per-cent solution of it in water arrests putrefaction. For disinfection use at least a one-per-cent solution. The chief objection to its use is its odor. This may be modified to some extent by mixing the pure acid with camphor, forming a liquid, which may then be diluted. This acid is often used in combination with other disinfectants. A preparation much used by the New York City Board of Health for the disinfection of clothing contains eight ounces of sulphate of zinc and three ounces of carbolic acid to three gallons of water. Another for privies, water-closets, etc., is composed of ten pounds of copperas, one pint of carbolic acid, and five gallons of water. The strong acid injures iron pipe. Do not use in combination with the permanganate of potash or the chloride of zinc. “Dead Oil” (heavy oil of coal-tar) contains from 5 to 15 per cent of carbolic acid mingled with impurities. It is used for the disinfection of drains, streets, stables, etc. Thymol also occurs in coal-tar, but is usually obtained from oil of thyme. Its action is similar to that of carbolic acid. Carbolic Powders are made by mixing five parts of the pure acid, or ten parts of the crude, with one hundred parts of sawdust, clay, or lime. Squibb’s Carbolic Acid (No. 1), containing 77.90 per cent of pure acid, costs $1 a pint; (No. 2), with 37.46 per cent of pure acid, 75 cents a pint. Different samples examined (Waller), containing from .20 to .78 per cent, cost from 50 cents to $1 a pint. Crude acid, containing 50 per cent of acid, with many tarry impurities, costs less than $1 a gallon. Thymol, $1 per ounce.
Charcoal.—Absorbs putrid gases. See Lime.
Chloride of Lime. See Chlorine.
Chloride of Zinc. See Zinc.
Chlorine.—A pale, yellowish-green gas, of a suffocating quality, possessing great bleaching and disinfecting powers. When dry, it does not bleach. When moist, it combines with the hydrogen of water or of organic substances, and sets free the oxygen, which constitutes its disinfecting power. It decomposes sulphureted hydrogen, ammonia, and in general compounds arising from the putrid fermentation of organic matter. It is obtained as follows: Pour one pound of sulphuric acid, previously diluted with four times its volume of water, on three pounds of chloride of lime. Mix in a large earthen dish to allow for frothing up. Or mix two parts, by weight, of the black oxide (dioxide) of manganese with three parts, by weight, of strong hydrochloric acid. The gas is evolved very rapidly, so that it is difficult to make the mixture complete before the fumes drive away the person manipulating it. The colors of hangings, etc., are apt to be bleached out by it, and metals are corroded. (See also Sulphurous Acid.) Chloride of Lime.—Made by saturating slaked lime with chlorine-gas. It contains on an average about 30 per cent of available chlorine, to be set free by an acid. Very useful for disinfection of cellars, damp yards, and areas. One half pound in a gallon of water may be used for washing floors of sick-rooms, etc. Heat destroys its disinfecting properties. Chloride of Aluminum.—Action similar to but weaker than the iron and zinc salts, q. v. Sulphuric acid, black oxide of manganese, and hydrochloric acid, each 5 cents an ounce. Chloride of lime, 15 cents a pound.
Copperas. (Green vitriol, sulphate of iron.)—Comes in pale-green crystals. It is an efficient disinfectant for privies, water-closets, stables, etc. Stains white goods. Acts by destroying sulphureted hydrogen and ammonia. Also oxidizes organic compounds and coagulates albuminous matters. A good mixture is four pounds of copperas and three ounces of carbolic acid to a gallon of water. Ten cents a pound. One hundred pounds for $3 or less.
Corrosive Sublimate. (Mercuric chloride.)—The most powerful disinfectant known. Coagulates albuminous substances. A solution of one part in 2,000 of water kills microscopic organisms. Two drachms of this substance in a gallon of water (1 to 500) makes a solution sure to destroy any disease-germ. It is a deadly poison, and can only be purchased under legal restrictions. Fifteen cents an ounce.
Dead Oil. See Carbolic Acid.
Green Vitriol. See Copperas.
Gypsum. See Lime.
Heat.—Boiling is a good disinfectant. Boil for at least an hour. If dry air is used, the temperature must be from 250° to 300° for five or six hours. Cotton and silk will stand a temperature of 295° for three hours without harm. Woolen suffers more.
Iron, Sulphate of. See Copperas.
Lime.—Twenty parts of quicklime, mixed with two parts of dry, fresh charcoal, form the calx-powder, as sold in the shops. It is useful to absorb putrid gases, when sprinkled in cellars, etc. Sulphate of lime, or gypsum (plaster of Paris), mingled with coal-tar or impure carbolic acid, is an effective deodorant for stables and manure-heaps. It absorbs and retains ammonia, and therefore preserves to the manure its most valuable constituent. Chloride of lime. See Chlorine. Quicklime, 5 cents a pound. Gypsum, 10 cents a pound.
Nitrate of Lead.—Theoretically a good disinfectant, but practically of little use. Five cents an ounce.
Nitrous Acid.—Evolved in the form of brownish-red fumes, when nitric acid is poured on copper turnings. Very dangerous to inhale, and little used as a disinfectant.
Ozone.—Is a form of oxygen, supposed to be three volumes condensed into two. Is a powerful oxidizer. Corrodes cork, paper, and other organic substances. Oxidizes very rapidly compounds of ammonia, phosphorus, and sulphur, which are offensive, instantly removing the odor. Simple vegetables, like mould, are completely destroyed by it. Obtained by gradually mixing three parts of sulphuric acid with two parts of permanganate of potash. This mixture will continue to give off ozone for several months. Or, put a piece of phosphorus on a plate, and pour in water sufficient to cover two thirds of it. These methods are used in the patented ozone generators. Phosphorus, 40 cents an ounce; sulphuric acid, 5 cents an ounce.
Permanganate of Potash.—Dark purple crystals, almost black. A solution is of a beautiful purple color, but stains brown almost everything it touches. Can not be used with carbolic acid or the coal-tar disinfectants. Is a powerful oxidizer, and is used to disinfect excreta, and to purify drinking-water. Fifty cents an ounce.
Sulphate of Iron. See Copperas.
Sulphate of Lime. See Lime.
Sulphate of Zinc. See Zinc.
Sulphurous Acid. An irrespirable gas, produced by burning sulphur. Powerful disinfectant. Coagulates albuminous matters and probably destroys germs. Destroys sulphureted hydrogen and ammonia. Dry articles are not hurt by it, but wet clothes are bleached. Can not be used with chlorine, as they neutralize each other. Chlorine is as effective, but is so destructive that it can only be used in empty rooms. It requires about a tablespoonful of alcohol to light a pound of sulphur. Sulphur (roll-brimstone), 10 cents a pound.
Thymol. See Carbolic Acid.
Zinc Salts.—The sulphate and the chloride of zinc are excellent disinfectants. They are colorless, and can therefore be used on clothing. They form, with albuminous matters, extremely insoluble compounds, and also absorb gases from putrefying material. They are the best disinfectants of their class. The sulphate is cheaper, but the chloride more efficient. Sulphate of zinc, 10 cents an ounce; chloride of zinc, 20 cents an ounce.
It is better and cheaper to buy and mix one’s own disinfectants. The many proprietary articles are no more efficient, and are very expensive. The composition of some of those most in use is here given. (Analyses by Waller, of the New York City Health Department.)
The first column gives parts in 100, and the second, ounces in a gallon in the case of liquids, and ounces in a pound in case of powders.
Bromo-chloralum (Tilden & Co.), 50 cents a pint.
| Chloride of aluminum | 8.152 | 12.71 |
| Water, bromide of aluminum, lime salts, etc. | 91.848 | 143.25 |
| 100.000 | 155.96 |
Burnett’s Fluid is a solution of chloride of zinc (25 grains to the drachm).
Carbolate of lime, in three-quarter pound boxes, at 25 cents.
| Lime | 64.245 | 10.28 |
| Magnesia | 0.602 | 0.09 |
| Sand, oxide of iron, etc. | 0.670 | 0.11 |
| Carbolic acid | 0.472 | 0.07 |
| Carbonic acid and organic impurities | 34.021 | 5.45 |
| 100.000 | 16.00 |
Chloralum (English Chloralum Co.), 50 cents a pint.
| Chloride of aluminum | 13.213 | 20.14 |
| Sulphate of lime | 0.197 | 0.30 |
| Water, chloride of calcium, etc. | 86.590 | 131.99 |
| 100.000 | 152.43 |
Chloride of lime, 20 cents a pound.
| Available chlorine | 31.38 | 5.02 |
| Lime salts, water, etc. | 68.62 | 10.98 |
| 100.00 | 16.00 |
Condy’s Fluid is a solution of permanganate of potash (9.26 grains to a fluid ounce, about 2½ drachms to the pint).
Darby’s Prophylactic Fluid, 50 cents a half-pint.
| Permanganate of potash | 0.055 | 0.08 |
| Sulphate of potash | 1.750 | 2.50 |
| Chloride of potassium | 1.270 | 1.81 |
| Carbonate of potash | 6.570 | 9.40 |
| Water | 90.355 | 129.24 |
| 100.000 | 143.03 |
Egyptian Disinfectant, 25 cents a pound.
| Clay | 87.810 | 14.05 |
| Lime | 0.354 | 0.06 |
| Carbolic acid | 0.320 | 0.05 |
| Other constituents of dead oil | 5.685 | 0.91 |
| Organic matter and water | 5.831 | 0.93 |
| 100.000 | 16.00 |
Excelsior Disinfectant, 15 cents a pound.
| Protosulphate of iron (copperas) | 31.464 | 5.03 |
| Chloride of sodium (salt) | 19.251 | 3.08 |
| Flowers of sulphur | 7.800 | 1.25 |
| Water of crystallization, cassia-oil, etc. | 41.485 | 6.64 |
| 100.000 | 16.00 |
The Germicide is a patented apparatus for discharging chloride of zinc into the bowl of the water-closet, and impregnating the air at the same time with the vapor of thymol.
Girondin Disinfectant, 75 cents a quart.
| Sulphate of zinc | 19.692 | 32.64 |
| Sulphate of copper | 1.202 | 1.99 |
| Sulphate of lime | 0.480 | 0.79 |
| Water, traces of calcium chloride, etc. | 78.626 | 130.34 |
| 100.000 | 165.76 |
Labarraque’s Solution, 50 cents a pint.
| Available chlorine | 1.423 | 1.96 |
| Water and soda salts | 98.577 | 135.54 |
| 100.000 | 137.50 |
Metropolitan Disinfectant, 30 cents a quart.
| Protosulphate of iron (copperas) | 11.413 | 17.10 |
| Carbolic acid (about) | 3.330 | 4.99 |
| Water, dead oil, and impurities | 85.257 | 127.74 |
| 100.000 | 149.83 |
Phenix Disinfectant, 35 cents a pound.
| Silicate of alumina (clay) | 56.876 | 9.10 |
| Sesquichloride of iron | 1.192 | 0.19 |
| Sesquioxide of iron | 7.102 | 1.14 |
| Lime | 2.470 | 0.39 |
| Carbolic acid | 0.400 | 0.06 |
| Carbonic acid and organic impurities | 31.960 | 5.12 |
| 100.000 | 16.00 |
Phenol Sodique, 50 cents a half pint.
| Carbolic acid | 1.177 | 1.61 |
| Soda salts, water, and impurities | 98.823 | 134.29 |
| 100.000 | 135.90 |
Platt’s Chlorides, 50 cents a quart.
| Solution chloride of | zinc | (saturated) | 40 | parts. |
| ” | lead | ” | 20 | ” |
| ” | calcium | ” | 15 | ” |
| ” | aluminum | ” | 15 | ” |
| ” | magnesium | ” | 5 | ” |
| ” | potassium | ” | 5 | ” |
| 100 | ” | |||