3Q 
Modern  Surgical  Dressings. 
fAm.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    January,  1897. 
duct.  The  active  chemical  disinfectants  are  for  the  most  part 
destructive  to  dressing  fabrics  as  well  as  irritating  to  flesh  tissue. 
Out  of  the  many  disinfectants  lauded  in  days  past  for  the  impregna- 
tion of  surgical  dressings,  but  few  remain.  It  has  been  found 
that  dressings,  even  when  impregnated  with  antiseptics,  may  still 
harbor  germ  life.  In  the  presence  of  dry  iodoform,  dry  corrosive 
sublimate,  boric  acid,  germs  will  retain  their  vitality  for  a  great 
length  of  time. 
Though  seemingly  a  contradiction  of  terms,  it  is,  nevertheless,  a 
truth  born  of  experience  to  state  that  antiseptic  dressings  may  be 
the  means  of  conveying  infection  to  a  wound.  Hence,  the  require- 
ment that  antiseptic  dressings  shall  be  free  from  micro-organisms. 
In  the  list  of  agents  applicable  to  the  disinfection  of  dressing 
materials,  heat  ranks  first  in  germ-destroying  power.  Heated  air  is 
precluded  for  use  with  cotton  and  some  of  the  other  substances  used, 
for  the  reason  that  the  temperature  required  for  efficiency  is  de- 
structive to  the  material.  Heated  air  is  quite  inferior  in  disinfecting 
power  to  boiling  water  and  steam.  Boiling  water  almost  instantly 
destroys  most  forms  of  germ-life  ;  resistant  forms  succumb  to  its 
action  in  a  few  minutes. 
Steam,  then,  holds  the  first  place  as  a  practical  agent  for  the  dis- 
infection of  surgical  dressings.  To  be  effective,  it  must  be  saturated 
(unmixed  with  air).  Saturated  or  streaming  steam  circulating  under 
moderate  pressure  reaches  the  efficiency  and  gives  the  results  at- 
tained in  boiling. 
Practical  Application. — Having  passed  in  review  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  underlie  the  preparation  of  surgical  dressings,  fitted  to 
fulfil  the  requirements  of  surgery,  we  can  best  gain  an  impression 
as  to  their  practical  application  by  a  brief  review  of  the  methods 
instituted  by  the  author,  which  are  now  in  working  operation  in  the 
laboratories  of  Johnson  &  Johnson,  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
The  buildings  set  apart  for  this  work  were  built  for  this  special 
purpose — made  plain  and  tight  to  exclude  dirt.  They  are  admira- 
bly situated  away  from  busy  and  dusty  streets.  For  miles  on  either 
side  stretches  river  and  meadow-land,  securing  an  almost  dustless 
atmosphere.  In  fitting  up  the  rooms  in  which  the  manipulations 
take  place,  the  ideas  kept  in  view  were  the  exclusion  of  bacteria, 
easiness  of  keeping  clean. 
The  walls  and  ceilings  are  glass-smooth.    The  floors  are  filled  and 
