Construction of Obstetric Instruments 609 



Europe and America, a strong tendenc}^ to the construction of 

 sectional instruments which may be unscrewed and consequently 

 occupy a small compass, or rather a shorter space, than if made 

 solid in a single length. It must be granted that such instru- 

 ments admit of being placed in a more compact case, and this is 

 really the only advantage which can be claimed for this plan of 

 construction. 



The plan possesses many disadvantages. The jointed instru- 

 ment is inevitably weaker than the solid one, and must be made 

 heavier in order to compensate for the joint. The joint, espe- 

 cially the female screw, constitutes an ever present danger from 

 the standpoint of infection and renders the instrument exceed- 

 ingly difficult to clean. One of the most serious objections to 

 the obstetric instrument with a screw joint is its inefficiency at a 

 critical moment. An operator works for a long time to apply an 

 instrument at the proper point in order to accomplish a certain 

 purpose, and, just as he is ready to do his work, a sudden move- 

 ment of the animal, or other causes, leads to an unscrewing of 

 the instrument. His time and labor have been wholly lost ; the 

 instrument must be withdrawn and the screw joint tightened 

 and the operator must begin over. 



It is a custom also, of the instrument makers, to fit a series of 

 obstetric instruments to one handle by means of a screw, with 

 the idea that they thereby render the outfit cheaper, lighter and 

 more compact. This plan has a very serious disadvantage in 

 reference to efficiency in practice. Convenience in carrying an 

 instrument should be subordinate to the question of efficiency 

 when the operator has reached his case. If he has been using 

 an adjustable handle with a hook, and finds that he would like 

 very much to have a repeller instead, he will perhaps find the 

 hook so tightly screwed fast that he cannot release it and must 

 ask some bystander with dirty hands to unscrew it for him. In 

 the meantime delay of an important character may have occurred, 

 and the position of the fetus may have undergone unfavorable 

 change. 



He niay desire to hold a certain part with the hook while 

 he uses the bone chisel or some other instrument, and he is with- 

 out a handle for the other, so that he cannot simultaneously use 

 the two. At every point the plan of a universal handle for all 

 obstetric instruments is wasteful of time and detrimental to effi- 

 39 



