Journal of Applied Microscopy. 573 



Hirst. A Method of Preparing Catgut. Ber- From experiments made by Darling 

 liner Klin. Wochensch. Nos. 26-20, i8q8. i-rr . r . -i- • 



^ ^ upon different ways of sterilizing cat- 

 gut, to determine the effectiveness of the methods, with the changes produced in 

 the strength of the threads, it was found that catgut can be sterilized by dry heat 

 with but slight loss of tensile strength, that dry paraform gas is of doubtful 

 value for sterilization, and that methods which involve soaking in antiseptic 

 solutions tend to weaken it. The weakening effects of solutions are tabulated. 

 The brittleness which results from exposure to dry heat may be prevented by 

 wrapping the separate strands in several layers of paraffin paper. Material 

 heated to 140°C. for three hours will be thoroughly sterilized. 



Hirst finds that catgut is not always perfectly sterile even when it has been 

 boiled in alcohol at 240 °F. and gives a method for absolute sterilization. Soak 

 the catgut in benzine twelve hours to remove the fat, dry on blotting paper, 

 soak in sterile water to make it absorptive, and immerse in a five per cent, solu- 

 tion of formalin for about fourteen hours. Wash out the excess of formalin, 

 stretch on a form, leave in a warm room four or five days until perfectly dry. 

 Then wind on a large wooden spool so that the coils will not cross, and put it in a ten 

 per cent, solution of glycerine in absolute alcohol. It is then sterilized for forty-five 

 minutes or an hour in a metal cylinder with atight screw cap, placed in an autoclave 

 sterilizer and kept at 240°F. Catgut treated in this way will last seventeen 

 days or more, according to where it is used, and micro-organisms will not grow on it 

 after the treatment with formalin. E. M. Brace. 



Pagenstecher. Celluloid Thread. Deutsche Thread is boiled for one-half hour in a 

 Med. Wochensch. April 6, i8qq. , . r 1 11 



one per cent, solution of soda, washed 



in boiling water, and dried between sterile compresses. It is then soaked in 



a solution of celluloid and passed through the soda solution a second time, after 



which it is sterilized by steam. It may be kept ready for use in an alcoholic 



solution of corrosive sublimate, or dry. These threads may be used instead of 



silk for sutures and ligatures, and in many cases they are preferable to catgut. 



E. M. Brace. 



De Klecki, C. Contribution a la pathogenic de From experiments made on the rabbit 

 I'appendicite. Ann. de L'Inst. Pasteur. 13: it was shown that it was not necessary 



to occlude the appendix in order to 

 exalt the virulence of the colon bacillus. Stagnation of the contents of the ap- 

 pendix plays an important role in the pathogenesis of appendicitis. Stagnation, 

 except of the gaseous contents, is produced in the advanced stage of every case 

 of appendicitis, with or without occlusion of the appendix, from paralysis of the 

 wall of the intestine. The occlusion of the appendix, then, does not play the pre- 

 dominating role in the pathogenesis of all appendicitis. 



It was also shown by these observations that a suppurative appendicitis with 

 a predominance of colon bacilli in the pus from the appendix, may arise without 

 exaltation of the virulence of this germ, by simple alteration of the nutrition of 

 the walls of the appendix. A lessened resistance of the middle wall of the appen- 

 dix plays an important role in the pathogenesis of appendicitis. Acute appen- 

 dicitis always takes place in an organ of which the wall is altered by chronic 



