UNTIL recently foul odors in hospitals and patients' sickrooms had to be tolerated because no practical means of preventing or eliminating them was known. However, because of the physiologic and psychologic effects of unpleasant odors on patients, hospital personnel and visitors, constant search for a good method of deodorization was being made.
At the time this report was being written, the most practical method of deodorization and the only one to be accepted for promotion through American Medical Association publications was a specially prepared deodorant solution of 1.2 per cent potassium mercuric iodide, 2.5 per cent sodium hydroxide and potassium iodide, 0.24 per cent in distilled water.1 As originally introduced for hospital and sickroom deodorization, the solution was used in two ways: 1. If the odor had already escaped into the room, the solution was poured into a specially designed unit which sucked the odor-laden air into the machine,