1775. Charcoal as an Antiseptic
Charcoal is an antiseptic, that is to say, a substance which arrests the decay and decomposition of animal substances. Meat, poultry, game or fish, &c., may be preserved for a longer period in hot weather by sprinkling it with powdered charcoal, which should be washed off in clean cold water before the article is cooked.
1776. Charcoal Respirators
It has been proposed to employ charcoal ventilators, consisting of a thin layer of charcoal enclosed between two thin sheets of wire gauze, to purify the foul air which is apt to accumulate in water-closets, in the close wards of hospitals, and in the impure atmospheres of many of the back courts and mews-lanes of large cities, all the impurities being absorbed and retained by the charcoal, while a current of pure air alone is admitted into the neighbouring apartments. In this way pure air may be obtained from exceedingly impure sources. The proper amount of air required by houses in such situations might be admitted through sheets of wire gauze or coarse canvas, containing a thin layer of coarse charcoal powder.
A tolerably thick charcoal ventilator, as described above, could be very advantageously applied to the gully-holes of common sewers, and to the sinks in private dwellings, the foul water in both cases being carried into the drain by means of tolerably wide syphon pipes, retaining always about a couple of inches of water. Such an arrangement would effectually prevent the escape of any effluvia, would be easy of construction, and not likely to get soon out of order.
In respirators for the mouth the air is made to pass through a quarter of an inch of coarsely powdered charcoal, retained in its place by two sheets of silvered wire gauze, covered over with thin woollen cloth, by which means its temperature is greatly increased. The charcoal respirator possesses a decided advantage over respirators of the ordinary construction, in that all disagreeable effluvia are absorbed by the charcoal, so that comparatively pure air is alone inhaled. Adaptations may be made to cover the nostrils as well as the mouth, for protecting the wearer against fevers and other infectious diseases, and chiefly for use in chemical works, common sewers, &c., to protect the workmen from the noxious effects of the deleterious gases to which they are frequently exposed.
1777. Charcoal applied to Sores, &c.