52 ANTISEPTIC TREATMENT OF WOUNDS. 
tools, bandages, wadding and all manner of materials can be 
promptly disinfected with but little trouble. 
The apparatus consists of a strong copper chamber, the 
inside of which is supplied with drawers and compartments. 
A suitable size for the veterinary hospital is 33 inches high, 
16 inches wide, and 12 inches deep. The front is furnished 
with a glass door which permits a good view of the interior. 
The gas is generated at the bottom by a formaldehyde lamp 
and the outlet at the top is closed with a damper to prevent 
escape of gas into the room. In from ten to twenty minutes 
all the contents, even the very center of tightly rolled band- 
ages, folded towels, etc., are perfectly disinfected. When the 
operator desires to withdraw instruments of dressings the 
damper is turned and the gas allowed to escape. 
PROF. I. D. RAWLINGS, Chicago, who has conducted 
an extensive series of experiments to determine the efficacy 
of formaldehyde gas for surgical sterilization reports the fol- 
lowing as a fair sample of his many experiments: Squares 
of gauze soaked in bullion cultures of staphylococus pyogenes 
aureus were placed on surgical towels, which were carefully 
folded over them and subjected to the action of the gas in 
the upper division of the sterilizer. One square removed in 
five minutes and placed in bullion gave growth after 24 hours 
in the incubator as did those removed after 714 and 10 min- 
utes, but those removed after 1214 minutes remained sterile 
after 72 hours in the incubator at 37 C. The same results 
were obtained from sponges soaked in bullion cultures of 
pus micrococci. L. A. MJ 
5. VICINITY OF THE WOUND. 
In our domestic animals, which have a more or less hairy 
skin, it is not to be wondered at that the vicinity of the 
wound is very frequently the cause of a wound infection. If 
in the human being, with his scantily haired skin, it is im- 
portant that all germs in the region of the wound be removed, 
it can be readily understood that it is all important to dis- 
infect the vicinity of the wound thoroughly. For in our 
