1919 Hotsonj on Sphagnum Dressings 245 



S. The label should give the following information: 



(a) 10 Sphagnum Absorbent Pads 8x12 inches (20.3 x 

 30.5 cm.). 



N. B. The cotton side does not go next to the wound, 



(b) 5 Sphagnum Absorbent Pads 14x20 inches (35.6 x 

 50.8 cm.). 



N. B. The cotton side does not go next to the wound. 



(c) 5 Sphagnum Absorbent Pads 12x24 inches (30.5 x 

 61 cm.). 



N. B. The cotton side does not go next to the wound. 



Packing 



1. Line the box carefully with standard waterproof paper. This 

 must be overlapped at least 2 inches (5.08 cm.) at all corners and edges. 

 In order to prevent the waterproof paper soiling the pads, the box should 

 be innerlined with common wrapping paper. Kraft paper is not necessary. 



2. The packages of pads may be placed flat or on their edges but 

 must not be doubled or crushed. 



3. In case a press is used in packing, the pads must all be laid flat 

 as otherwise they will be broken. In order to save shipping space and, 

 incidentally, manual labor in packing sphagnum dressings, the Portland 

 Chapter adopted a method of pressing their pads, taking their cue from 

 an old cider press. A photograph of this press is shown in plate 48. 



The sterilization of sphagnum pads is done after they reach their 

 destination just before they are used. The high heat and pressure used in 

 sterilization by an autoclave tend to make the moss brittle and to lessen 

 the absorbency, but not to such an extent that its usefulness is seriously 

 impaired. 



Conclusion 



The great demand for sphagnum has largely been the outgrowth of 

 the world war as a result of the tremendous need for surgical dressings 

 and the acute shortage of cotton for explosives. Now that the war is over 

 that pressing need has been removed, and for the time being the making 

 of this kind of dressing for war purposes is almost completed. However, 

 the inexpensiveness of the moss, its high absorbency, its abundance in 

 certain parts of the country and its undoubted superiority over gauze and 

 absorbent cotton for some purposes, clearly indicate that it is too im- 

 portant a dressing to let die with the war. If, however, sphagnum is used 

 for dressings in a commercial way, quite different methods of handling 

 must be employed. If the labor of collecting, sorting and making of 

 sphagnum pads as carried on by the Red Cross had to be paid for at a 

 living wage, it would make the cost of them practically prohibitive ; so if 

 these pads are to be commercialized a different and less expensive method 

 of handling the moss must be employed, — more macliincry and less hand 

 work. Considerable experimentation has been done pointing to a solution of 



