causing skin affections. It is evident that if these oils and compounds can be kept free from contamination the most important feature will be taken care of.

Control. It would seem that the workmen could be impressed with the filthiness of the habit of expectorating in oil in which their hands and arms are almost continually bathed. It would seem, also, that their attention might be forcibly called to the danger of working on machines while they have infections of any kind with which oils come in tontact. Employes having infections of this kind should report to the dispensary at frequent intervals so as to have the part dressed in such a manner as to prevent oils coming in contact with discharging sores.

Washing facilities should be provided of a type to prevent men washing in the same water, running water being preferable. Towels used in common should be prohibited and every man should have his own cotton waste and

wiping rags. There should be strict plant supervision and regulation of these features, if epidemics of boils and wound infections are to be prevented.

Men subject to chapped skin and men who are susceptible to skin irritation, acne, etc.. should be transferred, if possible, to machines not requiring the use of oils and compounds. Even with. these precautions it is probable that oils and compounds will become polluted and there remains the possibility of sterilization by heat or chemical disinfectants. In plants where single machines have their own pump and reservoir, thus having an individual oil supply, it would be impracticable to attempt to heat the oil in each machine at

intervals of sufficient frequency to keep the oil sterile. However, the oil that is reclaimed from the cuttings and steel shavings by draining and filtering could be heated to a temperature sufficient to kill all organisms. Pasteurization temperatures (140° to 165° F.) can be readily carried out, 140° F. for twenty to thirty minutes suffices; higher temperatures may be used for proportionately shorter periods.

In plants having central oiling systems, with large tanks from which oil flows by gravity to individual machines and is then returned to the tank, heat sterilization can be effectively carried out. Steam coils can be installed in the oil tanks and the oil heated to 140° F. for twenty to thirty minutes and from here allowed to flow to the machines. When the oil is re-collected from the machines it should again be sterilized and thus always reach the individual machine in a sterile condition.

Chemical disinfectants have been suggested and used with varying success by a number of firms. Coal-tar disinfectants are apparently the only ones available as others have objectionable features, some of them corroding metals, others interfering with the lubricating properties of oils and compounds and still others being too expensive to be practical.

Cresols have been extensively used in this connection, partly because of their high phenol coefficiency, and partly because they are the most inexpensive of the coal-tar products to use. Their use has been accompanied with indifferent success. Many objections have been raised as regards their use, the chief objections being their odor and their irritating

properties to the skin. It has also been observed (as will be shown later) that they are apparently not effective as germicides when used in oils. Cresol dermatitis is frequently observed among workers exposed to cresol and it would seem that if used in oil in sufficient quantities to be effective as a germicide, it might defeat its purpose by creating an aggravating dermatitis that might readily become infected.

A sample of cresol disinfectant was procured which was rated by the United States Hygienic Laboratory as having a phenol coefficient of 6.06 without organic matter and 3.21 in the presence of organic matter. In tests with organic matter by the Hygienic Laboratory, typhoid bacilli were killed in 21⁄2 minutes by a 1 to 180 dilution and in 15 minutes by a I to 375 dilution. As oils and compounds contain considerable organic matter, it was to be expected that the results with cultures of pus-forming organisms. would be about the same, when the disinfectant was added to oils and compounds.

Experiment III. To Determine the Effectiveness of Cresol Disinfectants in Cutting Compounds. A loop of staphy lococcus aureus was added to a 1-to-50 solution of the cresol disinfectant under discussion in cutting compounds, and the whole well agitated. After thirty minutes cultures were made after the usual methods. Live bacteria were found. Bacteria were, of course, also found in higher dilutions. Hence the disinfectant was not effective in a 2 per cent solution in oil in thirty minutes. It was effective in a control experiment in a 1/4 per cent solution in water in fifteen minutes. It is therefore apparent that the oil emulsion in the cutting compound exerts a protective influence over suspended bacteria. This was also brought out by applying the same tests to a drilling compound (which is similar to cutting

compound but contains more water). The disinfectant in this case was effective in thirty minutes in dilutions up to 1-to-50.

Tests were also made to determine the stability and effectiveness of the cresol disinfectant by making up two series of dilutions of the disinfectant in a drilling compound varying in strength from 1-to-10 to 1-to-300. The drilling compound was previously sterilized in the autoclave.

Experiment IV. The Stability of Cresol Disinfectants in Cutting Compounds. To each tube in Series I a loop of twenty-four hour broth culture of staphylococcus aureus was added, and in thirty minutes cultures were made from each tube and the cultures incubated for twenty-four hours. The other series of tubes (Series II) was placed in the incubator for twenty-four hours at a temperature of 100° F. with the cotton plugs loosely in place, in order that evaporation of the disinfectant could readily take place (as might occur in practice). At the end of twentyfour hours each tube was inoculated with a loop of a twenty-four hour broth culture of staphylococcus aureus and at the end of thirty minutes cultures were made and then incubated for twentyfour hours. A series of dilutions of the disinfectant in normal salt solution was used as a control (Series III). The disinfectant was effective when combined with drilling compounds (Series I) in dilutions of 1-to-10 and 1-to 50 after a short interval (thirty minutes) but was not effective in higher dilution. The same results obtained in Series II, the disinfecting properties not being affected by attempting to evaporate the disinfectant. There was no growth in the salt solution in any of the dilutions, showing the effectiveness of the cresol disinfectant in simple watery solution (Series III). The sum of the experiments shows that oils apparently inhibit the action of the disinfectant in dilutions above 1-to-50 and therefore the disinfectant is not effective in weaker dilutions.

The particular disinfectant used apparently formed a very good emulsion with the cutting compound, but it would have to be used in at least a two per cent solution. Hence the cost, disagreeable odor and irritating properties

of the mixture would prohibit its

use.

This disinfectant resembles very closely the Liquor Cresolis Compositus U. S. P. and differs but little from other commercial cresol disinfectants, most of which have a relatively high phenol coefficient, like the one used. We can therefore conclude that cresol disinfectants are of but doubtful value for the purpose at hand.

Requirements Necessary in a Chemical Disinfectant. A disinfectant to be satisfactory for this purpose should not be irritating to the skin, should not affect the lubricating and refrigerating properties of oils and compounds, should not stain or bleach or corrode metals or rot fabrics, should not have an unpleasant odor, should be cheap, stable, miscible and effective in water and oil and should be effective in both slightly alkaline and acid media. In addition, it should not be greatly affected by the presence of organic matter. Apparently, there are some commercial disinfectants having most of these properties, the principal drawback being that they are not effective in oil. Continued efforts will have to be made to determine a satisfactory disinfectant for the purpose at hand.

Intermittent Steam Sterilization Suggested. For the cutting compounds which are used over and over again in the same machines and which are not collected up nor filtered free from shavings and cuttings and hence in no part of their use pass through a common reservoir, it is suggested that passing hot steam into them two or three times a day for a few mintues at a time would aid greatly in reducing the mass of bacteria present. It is suggested that a small steam pipe might be run into

the reservoir of each machine or a steam hose used. Then before starting the machine in the morning and at the noon recess and in the evening the steam could be allowed to bubble through the cutting compound for perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, in which time it is more than probable that the temperature would be so raised as to destroy most of the bacteria present. This is upon the principle that where bacteria for various reasons cannot be totally destroyed it is nevertheless very effective to destroy the vast majority of them. to prevent the spread of disease.

Summary

I. The incidence of furunculosis and wound infection in certain establishments is apparently abnormally high and represents an important economic loss to the company as well as to the men affected.

2. Cutting compounds and cutting oils are vehicles or "carriers" for pus-forming bacteria and are responsible for engendering and spreading much furunculosis and wound infection.

3. The oils and compounds used appear inert to bacterial life, being neither germicidal, antiseptic nor directly supportive.

4. Employes are probably mostly responsible for the infection of the oils, but accidental infections would probably occur under the most favorable circumstances, suggesting the necessity of some means of sterilization of oils and compounds.

5. Education of employes in regard to expectorating into lubricants and reservoirs, interchange of towels and wiping rags, and the frequent cleansing of clothing, as

well as the prompt dispensary care of all wounds and skin eruptions, are essential.

6. In purchasing oils and compounds from the manufacturer, sterile products should be specified.

7. Heat sterilization of reclaimed oil before it is redistributed is important. This can be effectively carried out by heating the oil to 140° F. at least twenty to thirty minutes. There does not appear to be any satisfactory method of sterilizing oils and compounds by heat in individual machines. It might be possible, however, to use some form of in

The Ohio Supreme Court in a recent decision established a distinction between an occupational disease and an industrial accident or personal injury, which, aside from its importance as a guide to the carrying out of the workmen's compensation law, has interest for persons interested in the industrial side of public health work.

The court ruled as follows:

"I. A disease contracted in the natural and ordinary course of employment, by a person engaged in a particular calling or occupation, which disease from common experience is known to be a usual and customary incident to such calling or occupation, is an 'occupational disease,' and not within the contemplation of the workmen's compensation law.

"2. The accidental and unforeseen inhaling by an employe, in the course of his employment, of a

specific, volatile poison or gas, resulting in injury or death, is not an occupational disease."

The Supreme Court in its decision affirmed a judgment of the Jefferson County Court of Appeals, which had reversed a ruling of the Industrial Commission. The Industrial Commission, in the decision thus set aside, had refused to pay a claim under the workmen's compensation law for the death of Edwin S. Roth, who had been killed by lead fumes from paint which he was thawing at the direction of his employer. The commission held that his death was due to an occupational disease, for which no compensation is provided by law. Roth's administratrix con

tended that the death was due to "personal injuries sustained in the course of employment," and therefore came within the provisions of the law. The latter view was upheld.

ITH the opening of the numerous army cantonments throughout the United States, there arose sanitary and health problems of great magnitude, for never before in our history have so many large bodies of men been suddenly brought together from all walks of life and, as it were, thrust upon civil communities. The nearby towns rapidly increased in population, often to more than twice their normal size, and new villages sprang up almost over night. The great influx of strangers taxed the housing accommodations to the utmost and through the congestion resulting, the danger of introduction of contagious diseases was enormously increased. Not only were the soldiers likely to bring infection to the camp, but the large force of laborers required for construction work and other strangers incident to the camp. were an even greater menace to the health of the community. On the other hand the potential danger to the men of the new army from impure water and food supplies or other bad sanitary conditions in the zone around the camp was very great.

These dangers were early recognized by the sanitary authorities throughout the country and prompt measures were instituted to protect the soldiers from acquiring infection from sources without the camp and also to pro

tect the citizens of the extra-cantonment zone from the unusual dangers to which they were exposed by reason of the establishment of a cantonment in their midst.

City, state and national health authorities, working in harmony with each other and with the military authorities, have striven to maintain sanitary and health conditions in the region surrounding the cantonment up the highest possible standard.

The United States Public Health Service at the request of the different state and city authorities has detailed medical officers to most of these zones, in either an advisory or an administrative capacity, with a view both to aiding the local health authorities in meeting the emergency conditions and also to developing a health organization of the highest order to remain after the emergency shall have ceased to exist.

The direction of sanitation around Ohio's great cantonment (Camp Sherman) was turned over to the United States Public Health Service by the state, October 27, 1917. At this time the state authorities had developed a health organization and, with the aid of the American National Red Cross, which had contributed a sanitary. unit, had sanitary measures well under way.

The present health organization consists of: two commissioned