Remarks on deodorization and disinfection, and on Dr. Sir William Burnett's disinfecting fluid, the solution of the chloride of zinc / by T. Stratton.

  • Stratton, T. (Thomas), 1816-1886.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on deodorization and disinfection, and on Dr. Sir William Burnett's disinfecting fluid, the solution of the chloride of zinc / by T. Stratton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    Nearly all the medical practitioners of Montreal and Quebec have made trial of, and are completely satisfied with, the antibromic powers of the Burnett fluid. III.— Of the Disinfecting Properties of the Burnett Fluid. Some of our best medical authorities* do not agree in the meaning they appear to attach to the word disinfect, some restricting it to an action on infectious miasm, and others, apparently extending it to an action on offensive odours not in any way connected with infectious mias- mata. By a disinfecting substance, I mean one which either, 1—destroys infection, or, 2—greatly lessens its intensity. The question of infection is one of the most subtle and difficult in medicine, and has called forth the most de- cided and opposite opinions from writers on the subject ot fever. As infection is known only by its effects, and eludes any attempt to subject it to experiment, it is, in consequence, allowable to call in the aid of theory, as long as this is reasonable, and not at variance with facts. As Professor Alisonf observes,— If hypotheses are introduced sparingly, and the grounds on which they rest fairly stated, they are admitted to be part of the process by which the knowledge of the truth is attained, even in the most strictly inductive sciences; and those who profess to reject and despise them, are not those whose opinions are the most exempt from their influ- ence. According to Liebig,J ammoniu is always generated in sick-rooms, and particularly so where the disease is in- fectious ; he also considers that this ammonia is the ve- hicle of the infectious principle, and what renders it vola- tile, so that if the ammonia be removed, the infectious essence ceases to act. By freely using the chloride of zinc solution in a sick room, the ammonia becomes muriate of ammonia, and the air of the apartment is, * See Copland's Dictionary of Medicine; Brown in Cyclope- dia of Medicine ; Dunglison's General Therapeutics. t Physiology, page 1.