154 
ROLAND LORD. 
and why ? Simply because they have not done antiseptic 
work. The method is right, but it is not properly used. You 
may have the most perfect and complete rifle, and yet be un¬ 
able to hit the target. 1 ask in all fairness, can you blame the 
rifle? There is an infinite variety of apparatus used in hospi¬ 
tal work which can not be applied to our patients, and I will 
content myself by giving a description of the various articles 
and apparatus which I have used and seen used, with “ per¬ 
fect success.” Once more, before proceeding to the descrip¬ 
tion of these things, let me emphatically reiterate, that it is 
the mode of application of these agents, and not the agents 
alone , which ensures success. 
The following articles are generally necessary : irrigator, 
or four-quart fountain syringe, with a long rubber tube ; 
table, or box for knives, etc., etc., etc.; dish for catgut, instru¬ 
ments, needles, etc., etc., etc.; lister protective ; iodoform ; 
bottle of catgut; silk-worm gut in bottle ; wash-bowl for rin¬ 
sing sponges ; bowl for hands; razor and brush ; bottle of 
antiseptic tablets ; carbolic acid ; sponges—bichloride ; gauze 
—bichloride ; cotton—bichloride ; bandages ; towels ; plaster 
of-paris bandages. 
Now what have we to recognize when called upon to 
treat a wound ? Three things; the first is injured tissue, 
which nature will repair to a greater or less extent; second, 
effused fluids, which will conduct repair; third, parasites, 
which live on those healing fluids. Well, first remove all 
obstacles to repair. They are mechanical, as when lint, salve, 
powder, dirt, straw, fragments of bone, are in contact with 
raw surfaces, or when loss of tissue prevents adaptation of 
parts ; chemical, the presence and growth of microbes. 
Now I will suppose you have been called upon to treat a 
bad barb-wire cut on the forearm, great laceration of parts 
and some loss of tissue. Proceed as follows: have the wound 
thoroughly washed by a man ; procure a table or box ; fill 
your dish with 30 per cent solution of carbolic acid, and put 
in some oiled-silk and catgut, two pair of scissors, (one large 
pair to cut dressings with, and the other for surgical purposes), 
a scalpel, three or four needles, needle holder, forceps, (simple 
