One hundred years ago
Lord Carnarvon inquired what precautions the Government had taken to prevent the introduction of the plague, observing that he had a special interest in the question, because he had not only seen the Asiatic plague raging, but had himself had it. The President of the Council replied that he had directed the officers of Customs to inspect carefully all vessels coming from the Sea of Azof and the Black Sea, and had obtained from Dr Wiblin, the superintendent of quarantine at Southampton, a recipe for perfect purification. This is to place suspected goods or clothes in a close room or vessel, and then pour fuming nitric acid upon copper filings. Fumes are then thrown out in which 'no living atom, or molecule, or man himself, can exist for more than a few seconds.' That is certainly, as the Duke of Richmond remarked, a 'strong disinfectant,' and one which we should trust would not become very popular. If it does, the number not only of suicides, but of murders, is likely to be very rapidly increased.
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