SEPT. 21.]

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

The portions of the body thrown off, and con-
taining the contagion, may pass into the air, or find
their way into the water or food, and in this way be
introduced by breathing, drinking, or eating, or
through broken surfaces of the body.

It will be seen that the first five diseases in the
above enumeration are very readily communicable
through the atmosphere. The contagion of the first
three remains virulent for a great length of time and
at great distances, and they are also very serious in
their effects. Our consideration will at present be
chiefly directed to them in the following rules for
checking their spread :--

WHAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC MAY REASONABLY EXPECT
FROM THOSE AFFLICTED WITH CONTAGIOUS DISEASES,
THEIR FRIENDS, AND THE MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES.

1. When anybody, especially a child or young per-
   son, has sore throat, bad breath, or fever, he should
   be kept separated from all other persons except
   necessary attendants, until it be ascertained whether
   he has scarlet fever, diphtheria, or some other com-
   municable disease.

2. Every case of diphtheria, scarlet fever, or small-
   pox should be at once reported to the Health Officer
   appointed by Local Board of Health.

3. On receipt of such notices, the Local Health
   Officers should immediately verify the reports of cases.
   If medical attendant reports the case this will be
   sufficient verification.

The Board should secure isolation of those sick
with or exposed to these diseases ;
Give notice of infected places;
Regulate funerals of persons dead from infectious
diseases;
Disinfect rooms, clothing, and premises;
Give certificates of recovery, and of freedom from
liability to communicate the disease.

4. Every person known to be sick with scarlet
   fever, diphtheria, or small-pox should be promptly and
   effectually isolated from the public; no more persons
   than are necessary should have charge of patient, and
   they should be restricted in their intercourse with
   other persons.

5. Notices should be placed on the house in which
   a case of scarlet fever, diphtheria, or small-pox exists,
   and no unnecessary persons allowed to enter.

CONDUCT OF SICK ROOM AND ATTENDANTS.

6. The bedroom of a person sick with scarlet fever,
   diphtheria, small-pox, or any other infectious disease,
   should be cleared of all needless clothing, carpets,
   drapery, or any material liable to harbour the poison
   of the disease. The room should have a liberal supply
   of fresh air, at least 2,000 cubic feet per head per
   hour. In summer the supply should be unlimited;
   windows thrown open, and drafts on patient pre-
   vented by a fine gauze or wire netting, slanting from
   open point of sash to within two inches of ceiling.

7. Discharges from throat, nose, and mouth should
   be received or immediately placed in vessels contain-
   ing some of the disinfectants named for that purpose
   in section 8; if on rags or handkerchiefs, they should
   be immediately burned.

Likewise, the discharges from kidneys and bowels
should be passed into vessels containing a pint of dis-
infectant, and immediately buried at least a hundred
feet from any well or other drinking-water supply.
If these precautions are impracticable, let the excreta
be passed on old clothes, which should immediately be
buried.

8. For convenience a few disinfectants are here
   grouped together:

(1.) Solution of chlorinated soda (or lime);

(2.) Solution of chloride of zinc: Water, 1 gallon;
sulphate of zinc, 4 ounces; common salt, 2 ounces;

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

1295

(3.) Solution of chloride of lead: Dissolve two
drachms of nitrate of lead in a quart of water; then,
in a larger vessel containing a gallon of water, dissolve
two tablespoonfuls of common salt (chloride of so-
dium); mix the two solutions together and store for
daily use:

The above will answer for all purposes of disinfec-
tion; discharges, linen, cups, &c.

(4.) Carbolic-acid solution, say 1 part in 20 to 40
of water, for discharges and clothes, scrubbing floors,
&c., and washing hands;

(5.) Copperas solution; 1 pounds commercial
sulphate of iron to 1 gallon of water;

(6) Carbolate of lime.

The two last for discharges : the copperas very
good for privies; the carbolate of lime for sprinkling
dry in rooms, sheds, &c.

The carbolic-acid solution may be made to permeate
the air by spray from an atomizer, and destroy germs
in breathable air by actual contact.

9. Purification of Clothes and Bedding. The best
   plan is by the agency of heat. Dr. Henry, of Man-
   chester, disinfected scarlet-fever clothing by exposure
   to 212º Fahr. for one hour. An oven will answer the
   purpose, carefully removing the embers, and hanging
   on wires the clothes to be disinfected. Boiling clothes
   not so good as baking, but still useful. To every ten
   gallons of boiling water add half or three-quarters of
   a gallon of commercial solution of chloride of lime;
   or the clothes may be laid for twenty-four hours in a
   solution of sulphate of zinc in the proportion of 1 to
   120, or of chloride of zinc in the proportion of 1 to
   240, or in the chloride of lead solution (section 8), and
   then be washed with soap and water if they cannot
   be baked.

10. Nurses and attendants should be required to
    keep themselves and their patients as clean as pos-
    sible, disinfecting their hands frequently by chlori-
    nated soda or other disinfectant.

Attendants should also wear cotton or linen (not
woollen) clothes or overalls, to which particles will
not so readily adhere, and which may be more easily
disinfected.

11. Every person recovering from diphtheria should
    be considered dangerous, and should not be permitted
    to associate with others, or attend any public assembly
    until the throat and sores on lips or nose are healed
    for some days; nor before, in the judgment of the
    physician, he can do so without endangering others,
    nor until all his clothing has been thoroughly disin-
    fected. These restrictions, of course, extend to
    churches, schools, &c. Every apartment of the house
    must also be thoroughly disinfected before patient is
    permitted to go at large.

After recovery from scarlet fever and small-pox a
still longer time must elapse, to allow all particles of
disease-bearing skin to be thrown off.

12. The body of a person who has died of diphtheria,
    scarlet fever, or small-pox should be washed with a
    strong chloride of lead or zinc solution, double the
    strength of those in section 8, wrapped in a sheet wet
    with the same, and at once buried. In no case should
    the body be exposed to view; no public funeral held,
    and as few attend as possible.

DISINFECTION OF DWELLINGS AND PREMISES AFTER
RECOVERY OR DEATH.

13. In addition to thorough cleansing of all wood-
    work with soft soap, and water to which carbolic acid
    has been added (one pint of the common liquid to
    four gallons of water), and to removing and washing
    all fabrics which can be removed in the manner de-
    scribed in section 9, and brushing the walls, the rooms
    should be fumigated for a period varying from three
    to twenty-four hours with sulphurous acid. All doors
    and windows and the chimney being tightly closed,