726 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
4 
room must be scrupulously clean and every item which it con¬ 
tains must be free from contamination. Kor veterinary purposes 
the room must be clean and all dust allayed by sprinkling with 
antiseptic solution. A dirty operating table, dusty floor^or lit¬ 
ter that is dry enough to impregnate the air with dust must be 
avoided by cleanliness and sprinkling. If the patients are cast 
upon a loose litter the operating region must be protected from 
flying particles by placing a sheet between the wound and the 
litter. The country practitioner should when possible select a 
clean lawn away from any dust-containing air, or if a straw bed¬ 
ding. becomes necessary it should be spread out some time before 
the operation begins so as to allow all dust to settle or blow 
away and then it should be sprinkled to prevent dust from the 
animal’s struggles. The same principles apply to operations 
perfoimed in the standing position. These simple precautions 
I consider sufficient so far as dealing with the air in veterinary 
operations is concerned. The veterinarian who operates only 
upon valuable patients and as a consequence has the means to 
equip himself with an operating room something after the 
fashion of those of our modern medical colleges, might, I con¬ 
fess, readily improve upon these comparatively simple rules. 
Instillments are almost continually exposed to infection and 
as they generally come in contact with every recess of wounds 
they must be accurately deprived of their dangerous properties. 
Instruments. Hot water is not as expensive as its apparent 
unpopularity in veterinary practice would indicate. Almost 
everything—except the surgeon and the patient—can be steril¬ 
ized by boiling. Instruments should be boiled repeatedly, in 
fact before each operation, and when this has been done they 
should be placed in a case that has been subjected to the same 
treatment. A he old fashioned leather case which the veterinary 
surgeon usually carries with him is a serious reflection on his 
knowledge of surgery, and should be discarded for the more 
modern metal ones, which can be boiled together with the in¬ 
struments. I he large instruments, such as the ecraseur, should 
be treated in the same way and conveyed to the operating place 
in a sterilized towel, or what is still better in a regular sterilizer. 
How many of us have a sterilizer in our equipment? Surely 
they are not too expensive. Rubber instruments can only be 
sterilized with strong antiseptic solutions, as excessive heat often 
ruins them. The safest disinfectant for such instruments is a 
iy mercuric chloride solution. In any event the principle must 
not be forgotten : i. e .., purify the istruments. To keep them 
