Bactericidal Value of Chlorine and Iodine

In the August number of the Indian Medical Gazette, Captain Windsor experimenting with iodine, found that it was lethal to cholera, typhoid and coli organisms in one minute, when present in the strength of 1 part in 260,000, and lethal to anthrax and Hay bacilli spores in the same time, but in the dilution of 1 part in 8,000. These experiments coincided with mine, as also did his chlorine value for typhoid, namely, 1 in 350,000. Captain Windsor concludes his article by remarking that many observers have determined the bacteriocidal powers of iodine and chlorine, but have always found lower germicidal values than the above, and concludes that broth cultures were used in the experiments. This is the important point, for as a matter of fact 1 in 17,000 is, I believe, generally considered to be the germicidal value of iodine and chlorine. My contention is, that if typhoid bacteria are immersed for one minute in a 1 in 260,000 solution of iodine, they die. Now if 1 c.c. of a broth culture be poured into 10 c.c. of a known solution of a disinfectant