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168 ANTISEPSIS IN DENTISTRY.

fonnaldcliyd jj^as generated from a pastil containinji:; five grains of para-
furni by heating the pastil over a proper aleohol lamp."
In an artielo on the ''Uses and Limitations of Formaldehyd in
Dentistry," by Dr. F. W. Low, Buifalo, N. Y.,' the effe(^t of formal-
dehyd gas is further given as shown by a series of experiments (!on-
dncted by Dr. Thos. B. Carpenter, assistant bacteriologist to the Health
Department of the City of Buffalo. Without entering into detail, the
experiments consisted of two series, one of infected instruments and the
other of clothing either of school-children, of nurses, or of the doctor
in the presence of contagion, to determine whether they could be thor-
oughly sterilized by placing them over night in a wardrobe exposed to
the fumigation of the lamp used.
The conclusion of Dr. Carpenter was that "Tiiis apparatus can be
relied upon, after an exposure of from ten to fifteen minutes, to destroy
thin layers of the common, non-sporulating pathogenic organisms."
In regard to the second series of experiments with clothing, he says :
" It is evident, therefore, that twelve hours' exposure to the action of
this lamp in a closet of 15.8 cubic feet capacity is sufficient for effec-
tive surface disinfection, the most resistant pathogenic bacteria being
destroyed."
A third series of experiments was undertaken with scaling instru-
ments taken from the instrument-cases from several operators, including
that of Dr. Low. The result of this elaborate experimentation is thus
summed up by the author : " Every set, except the one irJiere the tvhole
case was famif/ated over night, produced some cultures; but not one set
developed a culture of pathogenic organisms."
''The Low lamp consists of an asbestos-lined tray, or box, sup-
ported on legs {A)y with an opening in the bottom to admit the chim-
ney of the lamp, the purpose of which is to conduct the fumes of the
formaldehyd gas into the tray and upon the instruments it is desired
to sterilize.
"The working parts of the lamp are shown in the illustration. An
ordinary alcohol wick is drawn into the wick tube. To place the lamp
(B) in operation fill it with ivood alcohol, grain alcohol being incapable
of generating formaldehyd. Adjust cone-shaped platinum coil so
that it just touches the top of the wick. Light the latter; place on
chimney, and after a few seconds' waiting blow out the flame. If the
cone be in proper adjustment to the wick, it will be observed that the
coil glows like a live coal, but there is no flame or dangerous heat.
"Having the lamp in operation, as described, and the tray properly
adjusted to set over it, as in illustration, instruments may be placed
in the tray and allowed to remain for ten minutes, a sufficient time to
1 Denial Cosmos, February, 1900.