THE ANTISEPTIC MANAGEMENT OF WOUNDS 353 



acid solution, i in 20, acting upon them for those periods of time ; while even 

 one minute had been sufficient very materially to affect them. 



Now this is to me a very satisfactory matter, because it gives experimental 

 demonstration of the truth, of which I have long been convinced by experience, 

 that we need not fear tubercle bacilli in our sponges if we keep them for a con- 

 siderable time in i in 20 carbolic lotion. The way in which our sponges are 

 treated is this : they are washed well with soap and water, and afterwards with 

 soda ; then thoroughly washed again with water, and finally, after drying, 

 put to steep in i in 20 carbolic solution till they are again required for use. For 

 my own part, I purify my sponges for private operations in a somewhat rough 

 and read\^ "^vay. I put the sponges after an operation into a tank of water, and 

 let them putrefy there. The fibrine, which clings among the pores of the sponges, 

 becomes liquefied b}^ putrefaction. They can then be washed thoroughly clean 

 of their hbrine, and the washing is continued until they no longer give a red 

 colour to water. They are then put into i in 20 carbolic solution and kept there. 

 In my Edinburgh practice I used to proceed in a bolder way. Taking the sponges 

 out of the putrid tank, I washed them in water, and sometimes, if I was in a hurry, 

 even before the water which came from them was completely freed from red 

 colour, I dipped them into the i in 20 carbolic solution, and took them at once 

 to my operations. I have before now applied a sponge so treated immediate^ 

 to a wound for the purpose of exercising elastic pressure and absorbing blood 

 and serum from it, and then put on my external antiseptic dressing over it 

 without any bad result. These facts taken together will, I think, be enough to 

 convince you that it is not necessary, as is sometimes done, to discard these most 

 valuable articles and substitute for them sterilized cotton-wool or tissue of one 

 ' kind or another, incomparably inferior to sponges for the purpose of absorbing 

 blood. 



This same i in 20 carbolic solution is what we use for purifying our instru- 

 ments, our hands, and the skin of the patient. For the instruments, it is very 

 much more convenient to be able to purify them by a solution like this than to 

 boil them, as is sometimes the fashion at present. For private practice it would 

 be a most troublesome thing to have to boil your instruments ; and e\-en when 

 you had boiled them and brought them sterilized to your operation, it might 

 often happen that an instrument might fall upon the floor or otherwise come in 

 contact with some source of contamination. You could not boil it again before 

 going on with the operation ; but the bath of carbolic lotion at once puts it right. 



As to the length of time for which the instruuKMits slunild be kept in the 

 solution, a good deal depends u|)on the care with which you wash your instru- 

 ments before putting them away. Any which ha\e teeth, such as forceps, 



