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46
of Copper, and Sulphate of Zinc, are all destructive
of the life of poison-germs, and are employed as
disinfectants.
One of the most powerful agents in the destruction
of poison-germs is Carbolic Acid. This agent is found
in tar, kreosote, and other substances which are
known for their power of destroying the life of poisongerms.
Carbolic Acid is now sold in various forms,
and can be most easily employed for the purposes of
disinfection.
There are other agents which are capable of
destroying all forms of germ-poisons, and from this
statement it will be seen that mankind has in its
possession a powerful host of means by which these
destructive pests of human life may be combated
and destroyed.
Besides the poison-germs produced by special
agencies, and producing specific diseases, there are
another set of poison-germs which are given off
from decomposing vegetable and animal matters.
These are the germs which, escaping from our dustbins,
ash-pits, drains, cesspools, sewers, privies,
and water-closets, on being taken into the stomach
and lungs, or allowed to accumulate on the open
surface of wounds, are capable of producing the
diseases known as Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Typhoid or
Drain Fever, Erysipelas, Pyaemia, and the like. These
germs are constantly present, to a greater or less
extent, in the air of houses, streets, and cities,
they produce a vast amount of disease and death,
and are more particularly destructive in over-crowded