The accompanying engravings represent a new disinfecting apparatus invented by Mr. W.E.  Thursfield, M. Inst.  C.E., of Victorgasse, Vienna.  The principle on which its action is based is that the 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 21/2 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.

The heat generated in the furnace is utilized to the utmost, and the escaping vapors form a steam jacket in the double casing of the disinfecting chamber.  The method of manipulation reduces the danger of contagion to a minimum, as the clothes or bedding are placed in specially constructed sacks in the sick chamber itself, and, after being tightly closed, the sacks are removed and hung in the disinfector.  The stationary apparatus, which is constructed to disinfect four complete suits of clothes, including underlinen, or one complete set of bedding, including mattress, is specially adapted for hospitals, barracks, jails, etc.  Its dimensions can easily be increased, but the size shown has proved itself, from an economical point of view, the best, as, where the quantity of articles to be disinfected varies, several apparatus can be erected at a less cost than one large one, and one or more be heated as the quantity of infected