PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 281 



RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AN ASEPTICAL 

 OPERATION. 



1st. PROCURE THESE SPECIAL SUPPLIES FOR 

 THE OPERATING ROOM.— It is needless to state that 

 the veterinarian cannot afiford to use the expensive supplies 

 that adorn the human operating room. In the treatment 

 of a wound for several weeks, the cost of the surgical dress- 

 ings alone might easily exceed the value of the patient. 

 The following articles are sensible, practical, economical as 

 well as effectual in bringing the best possible results. 



(a) Sterilized bandages are made directly from a bolt 

 of unbleached muslin, by tearing them into strips five yards 

 long and four inches wide, and then keeping them stored in 

 a larg-e, salt-mouth, glass-stoppered bottle, filled with mer- 

 curic chloride solution i-iooo. A bottle with a capacity of 

 two gallons is quite appropriate. 



(b) Sterilized wound packing is made from common 

 cheese cloth, torn into strips, rolled into loose bandages and 

 stored in the same manner as the muslin bandages. 



(c) Sterilized sponges for bailing and wiping the blood 

 from wounds are obtained by keeping a liberal supply of 

 them immersed in a salt-mouth bottle containing either 

 mercuric chloride i-iooo or alcohol. 



(d) Sterilized sutures are obtained by keeping a liberal 

 supply of saddler's linen thread or silk thread immersed in 

 a jar of alcohol. The thread is unraveled through a per- 

 foration in the lid. In addition, sterilized silk and sterilized 

 catgut purchased in hermetically sealed tubes may be kept 

 on hand for special operations. 



(e) Sterilized instruments are always available in a few 

 minutes by immersing them in a 95 per cent solution of 

 carbolic acid, a quart jar of which is included among the 

 operating room supplies. This jar is carpeted at the bottom 



