INSTRUMENTS—DRESSING MATERIAL. 57 
makers, or of colleges and museums. Veterinarians must accustom 
themselves to dé without them; they are, however, only useful for 
unskilful surgeons. Every practitioner knows that with a simple 
probe-pointed bistoury the neck of the vaginal sheath is more easily 
‘divided than with any of the herniotomy knives. One of us has 
shown that the complicated establishment, built thirty years ago for 
the ovariotomy of large domestic females, is no longer of other 
than historical interest. The Chassaignac, well made and well 
: handled,.is better than any of the improved ecraseurs. To these 
We could add many other examples. 
_ Inrural practice a decorated surgical outfit would be a useless 
luxury. 
The material for dressings consists of wadding, oakum, silk, 
Florence hair, horse hair, Breton thread, sponges, compresses, 
gauze, bandages, and coarse nettings. 
Wadding is an excellent material, not irritating to the tissues ; 
it possesses remarkable absorbing properties. It is rather costly. 
' For large animals one can make with it the first layer of dressing for 
serious wounds occasioned either by operations or by severe acci- 
dents ; it is used in large quantities only for small subjects and ex- 
pensive animals. Peat wadding (ouate de tourbe), readily absorb- 
ing, supple, elastic, cheap (cheaper than oakum), is very good for 
allcases. Wood wadding, used by Moller at Berlin, has the same 
qualities. Oakum is found everywhere, but is inferior to the pre- 
ceding. Gauze, a good absorbent, and not irritating to wounds, is, 
like wadding, too expensive for animals; it is used only for severe 
traumatisms and costly animals. Most sutures are made with sik 
or thread; hair and catgut are less used. Ordinary silk, flat or 
braided, the last preferably, are generally employed. They are of 
various sizes. To envelope the surface operated upon, compresses 
are made of coarse netting, gauze or old linen ; to dry the wounds, | 
small compresses are preferable to sponges. Dressings are secured 
with ordinary bands, or, more economically, with coarse netting 
made into bandages 6 or 8 centimeters wide. 
TECHNIC OF ANTISEPSY AND ASEPSY. 
Let us now consider what antiseptics, in general practice, are to 
be used preferably for the disinfection of the hands (surgeons and 
assistants), of the instruments and objects of dressing, and of the 
operative field, and how they are to be applied. 
Disinfection of the Hands.—The experiments of Fiirbringer on this 
subject have shown ‘that asepsis of the hands is not easily realized. 
It is, however, of importance, because, as said by Lefort thirty years 
ago, very often the hand is the agent of the infection of operative 
“* wounds. The surgeon who does not wish to meet with trouble 
