294 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



ecraseur is ideal, but too slow. It prolongs the pain, causes 

 struggling and delays matters unnecessarily. 3. Needles, 

 thread, needle holder. The needle should be large and 

 keenly penetrant, the thread strong and small, and the 

 needle holder of sufficient size to enable the surgeon to push 

 the needle through the tough skin without hindrance. 4. Clip- 

 pers. 5. Razor. The razor is only used when haste is no 

 object, as for example when only one or two animals are 

 to be operated upon. In large numbers, the hair is seldom 

 shaved. 



ANTISEPSIS.— There is often much- to contend with in 

 this connection. Despite everything the environment gener- 

 ally abounds with filth that is difficult to control. The sur- 

 rounding earth has often been trampled into dust, which, 

 manure laden, is sometimes constantly blown by gusts of 

 wind into the antiseptics, over the instruments and upon the 

 field of operation, defeating the most painstaking efforts. 

 Dust, if blown about abundantly, should be allayed by 

 sprinkling, and a clean elevated table constructed for the 



Fig. 146 — Jamieson's Spaying Knife. 



equipment, instruments, antiseptics, etc., in order that 

 these may be kept perfectly clean. 



The surgeon himself should take no part in tying the 

 patient, nor preparing the field of operation, in order to over- 

 come the danger that is certain to result from the alternate 

 handling of the dirty extraneous objects and the abdominal 

 viscera with the same hands. These preparatory steps are 

 assigned to assistants, and the surgeon occupies his time 

 between operating intervals, in maintaining the cleanliness 

 of the hands, the instruments and the antiseptics. 



The instruments, knife and emasculator, should be boiled 

 before using and the boiling should be repeated as often as 

 time will permit, and to keep them reasonably safe while in 

 use they should be kept in a pailful of lysol solution, ten per 

 cent. 



The hands are submitted to a thorough washing first 

 with soap and water, second with mercuric chloride solution, 

 1-500, and then dried with alcohol. The nails are trimmed 

 and well cleaned. The cleanliness of the hands is there- 



