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15
the sick chamber, and in this action it is believed that something
has been done which shall materially modify the
infectious character of the atmosphere. Now it may be
observed that when a ray of sunlight penetrates a darkened
room from between the edges of the almost closed shutters,
and falls as a broad band across the field of vision, the part
of the air illuminated is crowded with motes floating in the
light and again lost in the shadow, and wafted into commotion
with every breath. Such is a fair conception of the
distribution of the particles of infection which infest the air
in the chambers of the infected sick. Let us consider what
effect a saucerful of disinfectant would have upon an atmosphere
whose pernicious elements were so numerous and
distributed, and in what manner the vitality of the suspended
particles could be modified by its germicidal properties.
Let us suppose the height of the room to be ten feet, the
breadth fifteen feet, and the length twenty feet. A room,
the size of which, would correspond to these measurements,
contains a volume of 3000 cubic feet of air, the fluid introduced
to modify the properties of this volume o air would
expose a superficial surface measuring about twelve square
inches.
As the exposure to the exhalation arising at ordinary
temperatures from disinfecting fluids docs not extinguish the
vitality of the putrefactive microbe, it cannot be assumed
that it would destroy the germinal functions of the microbe
of disease, the two atoms having many characteristics in
common. Unless, therefore, the suspended particles are
brought into actual contact with the fluid, we are constrained
to believe that their integrity cannot be seriously affected.
Now, bring again before your mental vision the illustration,
the ray of light in the darkened room and the innumerable
motes disclosed by its impact; picture the movements