CORRESPONDENCE. 
851 
THE SURGICAL CLINIC AT THE MEETINGS OF THE AMERICAN 
VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
77.7 V, A . Manhattan, Kan., January 20, igoi. 
baitors Amevicciii Vetevincivy Review ,* 
Dear Sirs : -I had hoped that your editorial on the above 
subject and your inyitation to your readers to use the columns 
of the Review for its discussion, would bring- out numerous 
suggestions from those who in the past have chiefly exerted 
their energies in private adverse criticism, rather than in lend¬ 
ing their aid to correct the defects which have displeased them. 
In the December Review, a writer expresses his disgust at the 
conditions under which an operation was performed at one of 
these clinics, and then proceeds to relate how he performs the 
same operation. After a perusal of that description, I am free 
to confess that unless he possesses more skill in performing the 
operation than in describing it, it is my judgment that the oper¬ 
ation which excited such disgust in him, would probably result 
more favorably to the patient than one which he would perform 
m his “ appointed operating room.” 
I yield to none a keener appreciation of the advantages of 
aseptic surgery, but a practitioner who adopts a plan “ which 
can be followed out only in an appointed operating room,” is 
m my judgment, about as useful in ordinary practice as an 
Eastern dude or tenderfoot in a Western mining camp. 
There is no longer any question or doubt as to the useful¬ 
ness of antiseptics and cleanliness, but it should not be forgot- 
ten that asepsis is not the u whole thing ” in operative sur^erv; 
manual dexterity or manipulative skill is equally important ^if 
not more so. ’ 
The average, or, in fact, the most careful veterinary practi¬ 
tioner is unable to obtain ideal conditions in his everydav prac¬ 
tice. . He may have a correct appreciation of the importance of 
aseptic surgery, but his practical common sense and experience 
tell him that in order to meet the requirements imposed by the 
conditions of an ordinary country practice, he must possess 
something better than the ability to operate in a “ properly ap- 
pomted operating room.” He must needs operate successfully 
with the best appointments possible under the conditions he is 
forced to meet, and not under such conditions as he might de¬ 
sire. The professor and the city practitioner sometimes tell us 
they will not operate unless the conditions are “ just right ” 
but the country practitioner who adopts that plan usually goes 
back to the college to teach veterinarians how to successfully (?) 
