162 APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



85 parts, Columbia spirits 10 parts, glycerin 5 parta 

 In this mixture it is kept until used. 



Preparation of Patient for Operation.— Until com- 

 paratively recently it was the practice to prepare the 

 patient for an operation by a full bath on the preceding 

 night, to shave the site of the operation, and carefully 

 cleanse it with hot water and green soap. It was then 

 rinsed with alcohol and ether and with a 1 : 1000 solution 

 of bichlorid of mercury. Then a gauze compress was 

 applied which had been soaked in a 25 per cent, solution 

 of green soap in water; this was covered with rubber 

 tissue, and left in place from three to twelve hours. 

 The washing with alcohol, ether, and bichlorid was then 

 repeated and the skin covered with a bichlorid bandage. 

 Just before the operation it was again scrubbed with 

 soap and washed with alcohol and ether and bichlorid. 

 This method was fairly efficient to sterilize the patient's 

 skin^ but it was cumbersome and very uncomfortable 

 to the patient. Moreover, it was found that an absolute 

 disinfection of the living skin could not be hoped for by 

 any amount of scrubbing, since the deep skin glands 

 continued to harbor bacteria. Some surgeons then 

 covered the skin with an aseptic, gum-like substance, 

 with the intention of holding the inevitable skin bac- 

 teria in place. These substances were apt to crack or 

 tear and were not extensively used. Alcohol has a hard- 

 ening effect on the skin, and tends to ^^fix" the bacteria 

 there; it is used either alone or as a strong tincture of 

 green soap as the sole disinfectant by some operators. 

 This action is transient, and may be increased by adding 

 to the alcohol such substances as tannin, ether, or nitric 

 acid. A method which has found much favor both here 



