INDIA. 263 



plicity of an operating room. Two women were in 

 labor when I visited this department of the hospital. 



Professor Dimmock showed me a number of interest- 

 ing cases on which lie had recently performed major 

 gynecologic operations. In the old building a small 

 ward has been converted into an operating room sup- 

 plied with the most primitive outfit for asepsis. (See 

 Fig. 52.) What this hospital is sadly in need of is a 

 new and separate operating theater and a more com- 

 plete set of surgical instruments. It is a great injus- 

 tice to the surgical staff to be obliged to perform 5,000 

 operations annually under such trying circumstances. 

 All hospital surgeons in India confess that it is ex- 

 tremely difficult to prepare a native for operation. A 

 patient recently admitted to the surgical wards of Pro- 

 fessor Quicke for the purpose of undergoing an opera- 

 tion for the radical cure of an inguinal hernia, brought 

 with him the following sources of infection: Scabies, 

 ringworm, diffuse furunculosis and pyorrhea alveolaris. 



The nursing of this institution leaves much to be 

 desired. The trained female nurses are inadequate in 

 number, and it is only recently steps have been taken 

 to organize a training school. Most of the nursing is 

 done under their supervision by male and. female ware! 

 attendants. The house staff, consisting of three medical 

 officers of the Indian Subordinate Medical Depart- 

 ment, is made up of a house surgeon and two assistant 

 house surgeons. The house surgeon has charge of the 

 property, his work being largely that of an executive 

 officer, but, in the absence of the regular attending 

 staff, he attends to the emergency cases, medical and 

 surgical. The first assistant surgeon has charge of 

 the drug room and dispensary, and the second assistant 

 attends to the admission of patients and makes the pre- 

 liminary examinations. The fourth and fifth year stu- 

 dents do much of the dressing, under the supervision 

 of the house surgeon and attending staff, and they assist 

 at operations. The bedside clinics are an important 



