Fumigation

Fumigation (Lat. fumigatio, from fumus, 'smoke'), the cleansing or medicating of the air of an apartment by means of vapours, employed chiefly for the purpose of detaching infectious poisons from clothing, furniture, &c. Most of the methods of fumigation formerly employed have little real value, and are to be looked on chiefly as grateful to the senses, as, for instance, the burning of frankincense, camphor, &c. The really active processes are noticed under the article DISINFECTANTS. See also DEODORISERS, CONTAGION, INFECTION, GERM THEORY, PASTILLES.