London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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St Luke 1896

Report on the sanitary condition, vital statistics, &c., of the Parish of St. Luke, Middlesex for the year 1896

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28
2nd, No separate boiler is required, as is the case with other
steam apparatus. The steam is generated from a jacket around the
chamber.
3rd, The steam not being worked under pressure no valves are
required, and no danger from explosion is likely to occur. The
machine is simple in construction and can be worked by an unskilled
person.
4th, The cost of working is small, the consumption of coal being
about 1 cwt. for six hours' continual working.
It effects economy therefore in its cost in the time occupied for
disinfection, in labour, and in the amount of the fuel consumed.
I may further add that all articles are effectually dried before
being removed from the apparatus, this is done by diverting the
steam into the chimney and drawing air into the coil of tubes which,
being heated, thoroughly dries the articles in the chamber, and
unless exposed to the hot air process such articles as horsehair and
india-rubber mackintosh are not injured by the process. Lastly,
the site of your present Disinfecting Oven is sufficiently large to
receive a suitable Thresh's machine. A new shaft will not be
required, the present chimney lending itself for the purpose.
The following extract is from a report of the Lancet Special
Commission on Disinfection :—
" To sum up, it will be seen that in no single particular have
we found the invention of Dr. Thresh to come short of the
requirements which we have laid down as essential in a
machine intended for practical disinfection. In the first
place, it is of moderate cost, the expense of working it is
small, it requires no special management, and yet is free
from the risks attending the use of steam under pressure.
Next, and above all, it is efficient as a steriliser, since it
is shown in the bacteriological experiments above described
that the machine is able to render innocuous the disease
organisms therein mentioned. Even the resistant spores
of bacillus anthracis were rendered completely inert, so
that it may be concluded with safety that this apparatus
would act effectively on all infective material which in
every-day practice would be submitted to its action. Not
less important is it that the process of disinfection by
steam is effected by it not only without injury to the
articles and fabrics which commonly require disinfecting,
but it leaves them absolutely unwetted, and, indeed, in
many instances in a drier condition than they were
previously to treatment. In short, the machine fulfils the
conditions of a really efficient disinfector for all practical
purposes; and seeing how difficult a task it has hitherto