"I. Disinfectants to be employed:
"1. Roll-sulphur (brimstone) for fumigation.
"2. Sulphate of iron (copperas) dissolved in water in the proportion of one and a half pounds to the gallon; for soil, sewers, etc.
"3. Sulphate of zinc and common salt, dissolved together in water in the proportion of four ounces sulphate and two ounces salt to the gallon; for clothing, bed-linen, etc."
Carbolic acid is not included in the above list, for the following reasons: It is very difficult to determine the quality of the commercial article, and the purchaser can never be certain of securing it of proper strength; it is expensive when of good quality, and experience has shown that it must be employed in comparatively large quantities to be of any use; it is liable by its strong odor to give a false sense of security.
"II. How to use disinfectants:
"1. In the sick-room.—The most available agents are fresh air and cleanliness. The clothing, towels, bed-linen, etc. should, on removal from the patient and before they are taken from the room, be placed in a pail or tub of the zinc solution, boiling hot if possible.
"All discharges should either be received in vessels containing copperas solution, or, when this is impracticable, should be immediately covered with copperas solution. All vessels used about the patient should be cleansed with the same solution.
"Unnecessary furniture—especially that which is stuffed—carpets and hangings, should, when possible, be removed from the room at the outset; otherwise they should remain for subsequent fumigation and treatment.
"2. Fumigation with sulphur is the only practical method for disinfecting the house. For this purpose the rooms to be disinfected must be vacated. Heavy clothing, blankets, bedding, and other articles which cannot be treated with zinc solution should be opened and exposed during fumigation, as directed below. Close the rooms as tightly as possible, place the sulphur in iron pans supported upon bricks placed in wash-tubs containing a little water, set it on fire by hot coals or with the aid of a spoonful of alcohol, and allow the room to remain closed for twenty-four hours. For a room about ten feet square at least two pounds of sulphur should be used; for larger rooms proportionately increased quantities.