Spittoon

SPITOON, a vessel into which saliva and phlegm are expectorated. Spittoons came into wide use at the end of the 19th century, mainly after the work of Koch on the causative agent of tuberculosis. Spittoons are divided into pocket, desktop, and spittoons for public use. On the streets of large cities, in parks and squares, spittoons are replaced by urns for cigarette butts and paper. Pocket spittoons are still manufactured from glass or light metal with a screw-on or spring-operated lid; the capacity of such spittoons is about 50-75 cm³. Desktop spittoons are mostly metal, enameled, with a lid hinged along the upper edge, with a capacity of 200-250 cm³. There are models where the spittoon consists of a glass insert placed in a metal container. Room spittoons come in two types—with and without a stand. Since the latter are placed directly on the floor, there is always a danger of phlegm being scattered around the spittoon itself. Floor-standing spittoons, 1-1.25 m high, with a lid operated by a pedal, fully serve their purpose. Their capacity ranges from 500 to 1,000 cm³. In recent years, desktop and pocket spittoons made from waterproof, paraffin-impregnated paper¹ have become widespread. Paper spittoons are burned along with their contents, which greatly simplifies the care of patients and ensures aseptic destruction of phlegm. For disinfection of phlegm, 5-10% solutions of lysol, 1-2% solutions of potassium permanganate, etc., are usually poured into glass and metal spittoons. If sterilization of phlegm by steam or its burning with sawdust or peat is not possible—for which special furnaces are installed in large medical institutions—then disposal of phlegm into the sewerage system may be permitted. In some tuberculosis sanatoriums abroad, room and corridor spittoons are connected by a network of pipes to a special collector, where all phlegm is washed away by a stream of water, subjected to disinfection by superheated steam, and then removed into the general sewerage system.