COLLECTION OF BLOOD. 177 
dressing of a more dilute lotion for a few hours. The 
next step is a very important one, and consists in the 
thorough washing of the skin with methylated spirit or 
rectified spirit; this must be continued until every trace 
of the antiseptic has been removed. 
The skin is then to be punctured with a sterile 
needle; the stab must be a deep one and the blood 
must flow freely. The first few drops which escape 
must be rejected. 
The end of the pipette is then to be inserted in the 
drop of blood and placed as near the puncture as pos- 
sible and the blood sucked very gently into the bulb; 
great care must be taken lest air should gain access at 
the same time, for it might contain bacteria which 
might lead to erroneous conclusions. When the bulb 
is completely filled both ends of the pipette are to be 
sealed up. 
A much better plan is to use a hypodermic needle 
and to plunge it directly into a vein. The antiseptic 
precautions are the same as in the former method, and 
the syringe and needle are to be boiled immediately 
before use. The vein is made prominent by a bandage 
applied firmly above the seat of puncture, just as if 
venesection were to be performed, and the needle thrust 
obliquely through the skin. If this method is adopted 
there is much less chance of contamination, and the 
difficulties of the operation are certainly no less. 
Undoubtedly the simplest and best of all methods is 
that described by James and Tuttle (Report of the Presby- 
tevian Hospital, New York, 1898). ‘‘A piece of glass 
tubing 44 inches in length and + inch in diameter is 
drawn out to a tapered end and ground to fit the cap of 
a rather fine hypodermic needle. The larger end of the 
tube having been stopped with a cotton plug, the whole 
N 
