466 -WOUNDS AND INJUEIES. 



The proper kind of needle best adapted for making the 

 interrupted suture, is shown in the annexed engraving. 



Fig. 25. 



Needle for Interrupted Suture. 



EuLES TO Obseetb WHEN Insebting Stjttjbes. — TJnless 

 great care is exercised in placing the injured parts straight, 

 and afterwards keeping them so, unsightly blemishes are certain 

 to remain. These rules may be thus stated : — 



I. — Before sutures are inserted look well to the wound, 

 with regard to its size, form, and direction. The most com- 

 mon form of wound is that of a triangle. 



II. — In fixing sutures, place them so as to secure the 

 divided parts as exact to each other as possible. The best 

 way to do this is to commence by securing the wound at its 

 most conspicuous parts, by which means accuracy of adjust- 

 ment throughout will be more readily effected. If the injury, 

 for example, be of a triangular form, it is best for the operator 

 to commence with his sutures at the highest point of the 

 triangle ; by this mode the sides of the wound are placed 

 straight agaiast each other. 



III. — The distance at which sutures will be fixed apart 

 from each other will depend upon circumstances. One inch, 

 however, may be set down as the average distance. 



rV. — In fixing sutures, avoid forcing the skin into folds 

 or corrugations. The wounded parts will he foimd to grow 

 together in the way they are set. In like manner, where 



