se-producing germs. Scalded or Pasteurized milk saves the lives
of scores of babies, because the germs of summer complaint which lurk
in poor milk are killed and rendered harmless in the process of
scalding. Dishes used by consumptives, and persons suffering from
contagious diseases, can be made harmless by thorough washing in thick
suds of almost boiling water.

The bedding and clothing of persons suffering with diphtheria,
tuberculosis, and other germ diseases should always be boiled and hung
to dry in the bright sunlight. Heat and sunshine are two of the best
disinfectants.

232. Chemicals. Objects, such as furniture, which cannot be boiled,
are disinfected by the use of any one of several chemicals, such as
sulphur, carbolic acid, chloride of lime, corrosive sublimate, etc.

One of the simplest methods of disinfecting consists in burning
sulphur in a room whose doors, windows, and keyholes have been closed,
so that the burning fumes cannot escape, but remain in the room long
enough to destroy disease germs. This is probably the most common
means of fumigation.

For general purposes, carbolic acid is one of the very best
disinfectants, but must be used with caution, as it is a deadly poison
except when very dilute.

Chloride of lime when exposed to the air and moisture slowly gives off
chlorine, and can be used as a disinfectant because the gas thus set
free attacks germs and destroys them. For this reason chloride of lime
is an excellent disinfectant of drainpipes. Certain bowel troubles,
such as diarrhoea, are due to microbes, and if the waste matter of a
person suffering from this or similar diseases is allowed passage
through the drainage system, much damage may be done. But a small
amount of chloride of lime in the closet bowl will insure
disinfection.

233. Personal Disinfection. The hands may gather germs from any
substances or objects with which they come in contact; hence the hands
should be washed with soap and water, and especially before eating.
Physicians who perform operations wash not only their hands, but their
instruments, sterilizing the latter by placing them in boiling water
for several minutes.

Cuts and wounds allow easy access to the body; a small cut has been
known to cause death because of the bacteria which found their way
into the open wound and produced disease. In order to destroy any
germs which may have entered into the cut from the instrument, it is
well to wash out the wound