Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/438

DISINFECTION 376 DISMAL SWAMP accept it, or if, when presented for pay- ment, the acceptor refuses to pay it, or if a promissory note is not paid when it falls due, such default is termed dishonor; and the holder of the bill or note is bound to give notice to the parties who drew the bill or note or to those who have negotiated it. This no- tice is called notice of dishonor or pro- test, and if the holder fails to give notice of the same, the parties who would otherwise have been responsible are discharged from their liability. DISINFECTION, the act of purifying from infectious and contagious matter. Agents which can destroy the specific poisons of infectious diseases and pre- vent them from spreading are called disinfectants. The action of disinfect- ants is therefore analogous to that of antiseptics, and conists of the destruction of low forms of life. Thermal and chemical means are used in disinfection. Hot air and steam are included in thermal disinfection, while chemical disinfection destroys the infec- tive particles by applying substances of a chemical nature. Heat, and especially fire, is the best disinfectant. Clothing which can be boiled without injury is thereby deprived of infectious germs. When heat cannot be applied, gaseous or liquid disinfectants are used. Cold is a natural disinfectant. The first frost kills an epidemic of yellow fever; but a temperature of zero does not kill the infection of anthrax, typhoid, tuber- culosis, or smallpox. Most large European cities have dis- infecting stations under the direction of the health authorities. Disinfecting ovens are now replaced by cylinders or chambers, into which steam at a tem- perature of 220° to 230° F. with a pres- sure sufficient to prevent any disposi- tion to moisture in the chamber should be so admitted as to drive out all air from the interstices of the infected arti- cles, as well as from the chamber, thus insuring penetration into the interior. Among the most important disinfect- ants for practical purposes are chlorine, carbolic acid, sulphurous acid, Condy's green and red fluids, containing respec- tively manganate and permanganate of potash, and Burnett's fluid, containing chloride of zinc. Carbolic acid is one of the most effective, needing, however, some care in the handling, as it some- times causes severe burns. As a deodor- izer carbolic acid is not so energetic as chlorine and permanganate of pot- ash; but there is this great diff'erence, that while the acid destroys organic substances which give rise to offensive odor, the others mainly attack the odor itself and therefore require to be ap- plied frequently if perfect sweetness is desired. The vapor of carbolic acid is not a disinfectant at ordinary tempera- tures, as bacilli are not destroyed, even when exposed to it for six weeks. It is therefore evident that the mere expo- sure of that substance in vessels is of no service in disinfecting a room. Sul- phurous acid has long been in repute, both in the form of solution and in the gaseous state. Recent experiments on cultivated bacilli seem to prove that, while in the liquid state it is a powerful dsinfectant, it has little action either as dry gas or along with watery vapor. Of all the long list of popular disin- fectants, chlorine, bromine, iodine, osmic acid, potassium permanganate (Condy's fluid), and corrosive subli- mate seem to be the most certain and rapid in their action, but all of these are more or less open to objection. For application to the skin Condy's fluid is one of the readiest preparations. In cases of contagious or infectious dis- ease, disinfectants such as chlorinated lime or caidbolic acid should be used at once, being placed about the house, es- pecially in the sick room and in the pas- sages and landing outside of it. Every article of clothing and furniture should be carefully treated, as the germs may lurk in them and break out after a lapse of months or years. DISLOCATION, a surgical term ap- plied to cases in which the articulating surfaces of the bones have been forced out of their proper places. The particu- lar dislocation takes its name either from the joint itself or its farthest bone, and is called compound when accom- panied with an external wound. The most common dislocations are those of the hip, shoulder, elbow, knee, and ankle, and the chief obstacle to their reduction is the spasmodic and violent contraction of the muscles consequent upon them, the application of consider- able force being often necessary to set the joint. Chloroform is of great use, not only in preventing pain but in re- laxing the muscles. The most danger- ous dislocations are those of the bones of the spine. In geology it signifies the displacement of parts of rocks or por- tions of strata from the situations they originally occupied. D'ISLY, DUKE, real name T. R. Bu- geaud, a marshal of France; born 1784. DISMAL SWAMP, a large tract of marshy land, beginning a little S. of Norfolk, Va., and extending into North Carolina; containing 150,000 acres; 30 miles long, from N. to S., and 10 broad.