SUTURE MATERIAL. 45 



Preparation of Silk and Wire.— Silk and wire for suture 

 purposes should be clean and carefully boiled for at least ten 

 or fifteen minutes before use, or placed for at least half-an-hour 

 HI some reliable antiseptic solution. Silk is conveniently pre- 

 pared in various sizes known as 00, o, I, 2, 3, 4, etc., and can 

 be kept ready for immediate use by being wound on glass reels 

 and kept in glass stoppered bottles. 



Catgut and Kangaroo Tendon will not bear boiling; they 



Fig. 20. 

 Instrument cabinet. 



require lengthened immersion in antiseptic solution, and, to be 

 thoroughly sterile, a proper method of preparation. Mr C. B. 

 Lockwood, F.R.C.S.,1 speaks very highly of the .sterile property 

 of catgut prepared according to Esmarch's - directions, which 

 are as follows : " The ordinary commercial catgut, Nos. i to 3, 

 is vigorously cleansed with a brush in soft soap and water, and 



^ "Aseptic Surgery," p. 180. 



'■ "Tlie Surgeon's Handbook," translated by Curtis, 1888, p. 15. 



