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76
amount does not include any charge for the quantity furnished to the
Guardians as the fluid has been supplied to them gratis.
Germicidal and Antiseptic Properties.
From experiments carried out at the Royal Institute of Public Health
upon "Hermitine," which is the purified electrolytic fluid for medical purposes,
it is evident that the fluid manufactured at Poplar when used in
about 5 per cent. solution—i.e., one ounce of fluid to 19 ounces of water—is
a powerful germicide for Typhoid and Diphtheria bacilli, and that it also
shows a strong destructive influence on the Bacillus Coli in strong faecal
emulsions.
At the Royal Institute of Public Health, the following experiment
was carried out with the Poplar fluid:—
"A sample of urine, freshly passed by a healthy subject, was
divided into two parts, one of which was at once mixed with an
equal quantity of the Poplar fluid, whilst the other part was first
cooled down to room temperature, and then mixed in the same proportion
with the Poplar fluid. Both mixtures were allowed to stand
in open beakers at room temperature and exposed to diffused daylight.
In both of them a very distinct positive reaction was shown
by potassium-iodide-starch paper as late as the twenty-seventh day,
after which date a definite reaction could no more be obtained. No
bacterial growth developed in any of these mixtures.
"Immediately after being brought into contact with decaying
carcases, bad meat, putrid fish, faces or other objectionable matter,
the fluid is observed to evolve chlorine; the foul smell disappears
almost at once, and does not reappear if sufficient hypochlorite fluid
has been employed. There can, therefore, be no doubt that after the
first rapid re-action a slow, continuous evolution of chlorine takes place,
so long as there is an excess either of oxydisable substances or of
hypochlorites."
"It is thus evident that it is the presence of organic matter
which sets the reaction going and commences the evolution of
nascent chlorine. An excess of nascent chlorine being therefore
produced, this will permeate the liquid and will come in close contact
with the microbes present, thus leading to their more or less speedy
destruction: for it must be borne in mind that, according to the
fundamental experiments of Kronig and Paul, nascent chlorine is one
of the strongest disinfectants we possess. The fact of a continuous
decomposition of this kind going on is proved by the observation of
gas being developed, and by the distinct smell of chlorine."