7^0 C ULA TION BY GREAT SEE US CA VI TIES. 219 



The hair should be shaved from a small area over the 

 median line, after which the skin is to be thoroughly 

 washed. A short longitudinal incision (about 2 cm. 

 long) is then to be made in the median line through the 

 skin, and down to the fasciae. Two subcutaneous 

 sutures, as employed by Halsted, are then to be intro- 

 duced transversely to the line of incision at about 1 cm. 

 apart, and their ends left loose. This particular sort of 

 suture does not pass through the skin, but, instead, the 

 needle is introduced into the subcutaneous tissues along 



FIG. 48. 



the edge of the incision. In this case they are to pass 

 into the abdominal cavity and out again, entering at one 

 side of the line of incision and leaving at the other, as 

 indicated by the solid and dotted lines in Fig. 48. 

 (This figure indicates the primary opening through the 

 skin. By the longitudinal dotted line is seen the open- 

 ing to be made into the abdomen; by the transverse 

 dotted lines, with their loose ends, the sutures as placed 



