Coffee As A Disinfectant

The use of coffee as a disiufectant is geuerally known, but it is doubtful if the majority of people are aware of its trne value iu this direetion. They probably knöw that it is handy and liarmless, but besides these qnalities it is realiy one of the most powerfnl aud effeotive ageuts known, as has been shown by repeated experimeuta. Iu oue case a quantity of meat was placed in a close room aud allowed to decompose. A chafiug dish was theu introduced aud 500 grams of coffee were thrown on the fire. In a few minutes the room had been entirely disinfected. In another room the fumes of sulphureted hydrogen and ammonia were developed, and the smell - which no words can express - was destroyed in half a minute by the use of 90 grams of coffee. Aa a proof that the noxious smells are really decomposed and not merely overpowered by the fumes of coffee, ifc is stated that the first vapora of the coffee are not smelled at all and are therefore chemically absorbed, while the other smells gradually diminish as the fumigation continúes. The merest ' 'pinch ' ' of coffee is usually sufficient to cleanse a sickroom, even in aggravated cases. The best way to eruploy it is to freshly pound the coffee in a rnortar, if no mil] s at hand, and sprinkle it on a redhot iron surf