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14
particle of matter to the necessary heat." 4. "It is necessary to guard
against giving a false security by the inadequate employment of artificial
means. It is probable that all contagion disappears sooner or later under the
influence of air and moisture, and that the absence of these influences may
act as a preservative. "When, therefore, we cannot advantageously, or
effectually, supersede the natural process of decay, we must be sure not to
transfer it by the injudicious use of antiseptics." A. heavy storm of rain is
a great purifier of the atmosphere, and may be the means of arresting the
progress of an epidemic. As carbolic acid is said to arrest putrefaction, it is
one of the worst means which can be adopted in disinfecting a cow-shed
after the existence of cattle plague; for when cows are, after a longer or
shorter time, put into a shed which has been submitted to the action of
carbolic acid, the disease may re-appear. It is said that, although " carbolic
acid will arrest the development of ferment cells, it does not destroy their
vitality; for, if after such treatment, they are freely diluted with water,
they again start into activity." Its antiseptic power is admitted to be
great, which is exemplified in using it to preserve dead bodies. Dr. Letheby
says,* that a very small quantity of carbolic acid in the sewers prevents
decomposition, and that a solution of 1 per cent. of it upon meat arrests
putrefaction.!
I shall conclude this part of the subject by quoting the words of
Mr. Simon, in his Memorandum on Disinfection, which was published in his
Ninth Report, dated 1867, p. 236.
"It is to cleanliness, ventilation, and drainage, and the use of perfectly
pure drinking water, that populations ought mainly to look for safety against
nuisance and infection. Artificial disinfectants cannot properly supply the
place of these essentials, for, except in a small and peculiar class of cases,
they are cf temporary and imperfect usefulness. That no house refuse, not
only no excremental matter, but also no other kind of dust or refuse should
remain in or about inhabited premises, is a first rule against infection."
Although the facts which I have brought under your notice in this
Report respecting small-pox and vaccination, and the hypotheses which
have been advanced by scientific men regarding contagion, have been for
many years well known to the medical profession, yet, as my Reports are
addressed to gentlemen who have not made the science of preventive medicine
a study, I thought that the information on these important subjects
which I have collected, might be useful and interesting to you, not only
individually, but as a Board, who have for many years past shown much zeal
in the cause of sanitary science, and who have so kindly and ably assisted me
in my endeavours to improve the sanitary condition of this District.
* Dr. Letheby on the Right Use of Disinfectants.