834 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
the first subject came to our notice last winter during the dis-, 
secting session. Have inquired of old practitioners whether 
this is a common condition or not; and have learned that the 
veterinary profession knows but little of the condition. The 
medical profession, however, is more familiar with the condi¬ 
tion, and usually refer to it as an ossification of the tendons. 
For the benefit of the profession we would ask demonstrators of 
anatomy of veterinary colleges, to report (i) the number of 
similar cases that have come to their notice. (2) To ascertain 
whether the condition is osteogenic or calcareous.—(ZT. Mi) 
A, smalUmetacarpal bone; B, check ligament (inferior) ; C, suspensory ligament; D D' D", 
osseous deposits in tendons and ligament; E , perforans tendon : F, tendon of perforatus. 
The Hands in Surgery .—The danger of infecting wounds 
with the hands and the importance of rendering them harmless 
during surgical operations has received much attention among 
human surgeons during the past few years. In the earlier days 
of antiseptic surgery the surgeon’s hands were considered safe 
when they had been scrubbed with soap and water and freely 
immersed in a potent antiseptic solution. Recent research, 
however, has proven beyond question that the hands, no matter 
how energetically scrubbed, nor how freely bathed in antisep¬ 
tics persistently, harbor organisms sufficiently numerous and 
virulent to defeat the surgeon’s purpose in many instances. 
Scrubbing the hands is now regarded as detrimental in that it 
brings more organisms to the surface, and hot water washing is 
said to open the pores and induce a perspiration with the same 
results. A scrupulous surgeon will now frequently postpone a 
capital operation for days after having polluted the hands with 
septic matter of a highly virulent character, recognizing the diffi¬ 
culty of disinfecting them safely, and no honest surgeon will 
now attend a case of parturition after having manipulated a 
