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pillows, which have been used by persons suffering from Small Pox,
Typhus, or Scarlet Fever. These articles we replace at the cost of
the Vestry. Feather beds we send to Messrs. Blyth,* to be disinfected
and purified. The expense of purifying feather beds and replacing
common bedding amounted in 1878 to £221 9s. 6d., in 1879 to
£117 4s. 0d., and in 1880 to £302 11s. 11d., in 1881 to £551 3s. 6d,,
in 1882 to £255 3s. 8d., in 1883 to £237 3s. 11d.
Now, there can be no doubt that the safest plan of dealing with
clothes and bedding tainted with specific infective matter is that of
cremation, as at present carried out.
Fire is nature's great purifier, and our present method, though
absolutely safe as far as it goes, has the great disadvantage of not
being sufficiently thorough. We destroy merely the beds, and leave
the remainder of the clothing, carpets, and curtains, to take their
chance as carriers and distributors of infection. It is true we do
something in the way of disinfection by burning sulphur in the rooms,
and as this is the best, and indeed the only plan at my disposal, I
invariably give directions for having it carried out; but I have grave
doubts as to its efficacy, and regret to say that we find case after case
of Small Pox recurring in houses where it has been most carefully
done. Now, in place of burning clothes and bedding, there is, as is
well known, a plan of baking them, and this practice is defended on
the ground that the poison of Small Pox, &c., is destroyed by a heat
a little above that of boiling water. It is now customary in all
hospitals for infectious diseases, and in many Metropolitan parishes,
to subject infected clothing, bedding, &c., to a temperature ranging
between 240° and 260° F. in a close chamber, through which heated
air or steam is made to pass. After remaining some hours at this
temperature, the articles may be removed, and will be found free from
power to infect. If desired, the air can be charged with some special
germicide, such as sulphurous or carbolic acid, but this I do not consider
at all necessary.
The heat in apparatus of this kind may be produced in one of three
ways: 1st, by means of gas burners, as in Dr. Ransome's; 2nd, by
ordinary fuel in a furnace, as in Messrs. Frazer's; and 3rd, by superheated
steam, as in Mr. Washington Lyon's.
* Messrs. Blyth have intimated to us that, though willing to continue disinfection
until we are otherwise suited, they wish to be relieved of the duty.