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say that, from experiments he has made, it is practicable with steam at
15 lbs. pressure (=251° F.) to disinfect rags without unpacking the bales—
an important advantage both as regards saving of labonr and avoidance of
risk. The texture of the rags is not injured, they would not be wetted to
a serious extent by the steam, and the cost of the process would not
exceed 2s. 2d. per ton of rags, even if it were necessary to erect special
apparatus for the purpose. Mr. Lyon's appliance is the available one
alluded to. But it is quite possible, and indeed is constantly done, to apply
as much as 20 lbs. pressure (261° F.) in the Lyon's disinfector without injury
to the most delicate and even coloured fabrics. As it is well known that
few textile articles will bear a dry heat of more than 250° F. without
becoming scorched or singed, or, in other words, virtually destroyed, the
advantages of steam disinfection, where a so much higher temperature can
be obtained, is of immense importance. We are glad to see that the Board
of Trade, by the advice of Dr. Buchanan, medical officer to the Local
Government Board, have issued further regulations with reference to ships
having on board bales of rags exported from Egypt and consigned to this
country. As it has been found that thousands of tons of rags are annually
imported here from Egypt, and that they are habitually dirty, it has been
thought advisable to take exceptional precautions to prevent the introduction
of cholera by means of them into English ports. In ordering disinfection,
Dr. Buchanan says that bales of rags cannot be properly disinfected
by the use of any powder, nor by gaseous sulphurous acid or chlorine; and
after stating that they must be exposed to a heat of not less than 250° F.
for two hours, says that 'the arrangement which gives greatest penetration
of heat is the use of high-pressure steam, more especially if the pressure be
from time to time relaxed, and re-applied so as to displace the and Here
again the Lyon's patent disinfector is evidently alluded to, and the
'relaxing' system mentioned by Dr. Buchanan is one of the salient features
of the machine.
"That paper manufacturers will appreciate the steam disinfector is
without doubt, as placing within their reach a reliable, easy, and inexpensive
mode of ridding themselves and their workpeople of one of the most
dangerous features connected with their trade, so far as the spread of infectious
diseases is concerned. A large sum is annually lost under present
circumstances by burning the clothing and bedding of persons who have
suffered from infectious disease, and we are informed that last year in the
Bethnal Green district a loss of no less than £500 was thus entailed, which,
had a Lyon's disinfector been in use, would have been saved. Thus there
is reason to recommend it as an economiser of property as well as a safeguard
to health. Drawings of the apparatus are appended. The first
consists of an oval horizontal cylinder, having an outer chamber or jacket
into which steam is first admitted to heat the machine and thus prevent
condensation in the inner chamber into which the articles for disinfection
are placed. The door is then closed with a steam-tight joint and steam
turned on to the inner chamber. Gradually the gauge on the outside is
seen to rise, registering the amount of pressure and consequently heat from
time to time enforced. This is continued as long as necessary, when the
steam is turned off and allowed to escape into a tank or the open air.
1 here is a very slight dampness upon the goods, and this is got rid of by
allowing them to remain a few minutes in the machine with the steam on
the outer casing only, thus converting the apparatus into a drying chamber.