complete destruction of all germs in wearing apparel and bedding,
without any material injury whatever to the latter, is only to be
obtained by subjecting the articles infected, for a period
proportionate to their structural resistance, to a moist heat of at
least 212 deg. Fah. Recent experiences in Berlin have shown that, for
security's sake, a temperature of 220 deg. is better. To insure the
thorough penetration of this temperature in every fiber, a heat of
from 260 deg. to 270 deg. must be maintained in the disinfecting
chamber itself. To obtain this by means of ordinary or superheated
steam involves the employment of boilers working under a pressure of
2½ to 3 atmospheres, of disinfecting chambers capable of resisting an
equal tension, and of skilled labor in attending to the same; in other
words, a large initial outlay and correspondingly heavy working
expenses in fuel and wages.

[Illustration: Fig. I and II THE AERO-STEAM DISINFECTOR.]

The disinfecting apparatus, illustrated in a portable and stationary
form, of the dimensions adopted by the sanitary authorities of Vienna,
Budapest, Prague, Lemberg, Teplitz, etc., and by the Imperial and
Royal Theresianum Institute, and sanctioned for use in barracks,
military hospitals, etc., by the Austrian Ministry of War, and for
ambulance hospitals by the Red Cross, acts by means of a mixture of
steam and hot air in such proportion that the steam, after expending
its mechanical energy in inducting the hot air into the disinfecting
chamber, is, by contact with the clothes or bedding of a lower
temperature, not only condensed, but by condensation completely
neutralizes the risk of injury through any chance excess of hot air.
The boiler being practically open is inexplosive, and requires neither
safety valves nor skilled attendance.