AveustT 30, 1918] 
the ends in place, although this is. not abso- 
lutely necessary. In order to keep the outside 
covering free from particles of moss it is best 
to remove this incomplete pad to another table 
where there is no moss. Here it may be 
finished by the same worker or by another. 
A piece of gauze of appropriate size is spread 
out on the table and the incomplete pad is 
placed in the center of it, with the non-ab- 
sorbent cotton up. <A thicker layer of cotton 
is then put over the pad, extending about a 
quarter of an inch beyond the edges. The 
gauze is folded over the pad so that the long 
fold is on the back, that is, on the side next 
the non-absorbent cotton. 
The open ends are folded in “ muff-wise,” 
first folding the under side up over the tissue- 
envelope, then folding the upper side to corre- 
spond and adjusting the “ muff-end” care- 
fully. The pad is patted lightly to make sure 
the sphagnum is evenly distributed throughout 
‘and then passed through a clothes-wringer. 
Tf, when held up to a strong light, “ holes” are 
detected in the pad, too little moss has been 
used. If the pad is solid and harsh, there is 
probably too much moss. 
The British type of sphagnum pad consists 
of a flat bag made of English long cloth with a 
fine enough weave so that the particles of moss 
will not sift through. This bag, which varies 
in size according to the need, is filled with 
the appropriate amount of moss and sewn up. 
The Canadian Red Cross adopted three types 
of sphagnum dressings, the British type just 
mentioned, a standard dressing similar to the 
American type and bed pads made of second 
grade sphagnum. During the summer (1918) 
the Canadians are concentrating most of their 
energy on the standard dressing, while a 
smaller number of the British type and com- 
paratively few of the bed pads are being made. 
SUMMARY 
1. The use of sphagnum as a substitute for 
absorbent cotton is not only a great saving of 
money but is fast becoming an absolute neces- 
sity on account of the acute shortage of cotton, 
due, in part, to the extensive use in explosives. 
2. It has been estimated that if absorbent 
SCIENCE 
207 
cotton were used exclusively in the hospitals 
the cost would be not less than $200,000 per 
annum for Great Britain alone, while the cost 
of the moss is practically negligible. 
3. The value of sphagnum as a surgical 
dressing lies chiefly in its absorbency. The 
species used for this work will absorb and 
hold fourteen to twenty times their weight of 
water. Ordinary absorbent cotton will hold 
only four or five times its weight. 
4. The sphagnum is not subjected to any 
special treatment for surgical dressings but 
simply gathered from the bog, the foreign ma- 
terial removed, dried and made into pads which 
are sterilized after they get to France. 
5. There is some indisposition on the part 
of American surgeons in France to use these 
pads. This is what was anticipated as surgeons 
are, to say the least, conservative in connection 
with their supplies, ete., and generally speak- 
ing indifferent as to the expense of these sup- 
plies. The British Army Medical Service 
went through the same thing two years ago 
and even up to last year sphagnum dressings 
were looked upon as an undesirable make-shift 
by a great many British surgeons; but at last 
they seem to have come into their own, as can 
perhaps best be illustrated by the fact that 
Canada has been given an allotment of 20,000,- 
000 and that Scotland has been recently asked 
to turn out 4,000,000 sphagnum dressings a 
month. 
6. Although sphagnum for surgical dress- 
ings has been largely the result of the present 
war, a make-shift for a necessity that had 
arisen, yet there seems every reason for believ- 
ing that it is not going to be discarded after 
the war ends. The inexpensiveness of the 
moss, its high absorbency, its abundance in 
certain parts of the country and its un- 
doubted superiority over gauze and absorbent 
cotton for some purposes, clearly indicated 
that it is too important as a hospital equip- 
ment to let die with the war. When the war 
is over it will probably take its place among 
the regular commercial products called for by 
modern hospitals. 
7. The last word has not yet been said re- 
garding sphagnum for surgical work. Ex- 
