COLLECTION OF URINE 81 



patient, the bottle, including the inside of the mouth, 

 should be wiped off with a cloth moistened with 

 5 per cent, carbolic acid solution. When specimens 

 of sputum are intended for careful bacteriological 

 cultivation with the idea of finding out what the 

 causative bacteria in the case may be, the procedure 

 is different. In this case the bottle, again a wide- 

 mouthed one, must be plugged with raw cotton and 

 sterilized, preferably by dry heat. Someone should 

 supervise the collection of the specimen and see that 

 the patient spits a representative (instruction from 

 doctor) sample directly into the bottle and does not 

 let it touch the outside of the neck. The part of the 

 cotton plug which extends beyond the mouth of the 

 bottle should be held by someone and the stopper part 

 not allowed to touch anything while out of the bottle. 

 After the plug is replaced the outside of the bottle is 

 cleansed, as for tuberculosis sputum. 



The sputum is an excretion from the trachea, bronchi, 

 and lungs, and care should .be taken that the specimen 

 collected is such and not saliva mixed with posterior 

 nasal mucus. In children it is necessary to induce a 

 cough and to collect the sputum on cotton-tipped 

 applicators. 



Collection of Urine. The collection of urine for 

 bacteriological purposes must be done by catheteri- 

 zation, using all possible surgical precautions as- to 

 genitalia, hands, and instruments. The urine must be 

 allowed to fall from the end of the catheter directly 

 into a bottle or test-tube sterilized with a raw cotton 

 plug, the plug being removed when the collection is 

 ready and held carefully, so that the part which fits into 

 6 



