Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1897.  / 
Modern  Surgical  Dressings. 
37 
lying  the  infection  and  disinfection  of  dressings,  are  probably  more 
competent  to  handle  dressings  than  the  doctor's  student  or  his 
attendants,  to  whom  such  work  is  of  necessity  relegated.  In  this 
work,  as  in  many  other  instances,  properly  constructed  apparatus  is 
more  efficient,  more  cleanly,  more  perfect,  than  hand  work. 
Further,  an  organization  devoted  exclusively  to  the  manufacture 
of  dressings,  once  having  the  details  arranged  to  prepare  a  yard  of 
dressing,  can  produce  any  number  of  yards  more  perfectly  than  if 
done  as  occasion  may  require,  as  is  the  rule  in  the  hospital  or  in 
private  practice. 
To  the  manufacturer  and  dispensing  pharmacist  is  due  the  credit 
of  having  made  possible  the  universal  application  of  the  principles 
of  modern  surgery.  They  have  supplied  to  the  practitioner  in  the 
most  remote  regions  appliances  as  perfect  as  those  used  in  the  great 
hospital  centres.  They  have  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  practitioner 
appliances  that  fulfil  every  requirement  of  the  advanced  art  of 
surgery. 
I  hold  that  the  preparation,  selling  and  dispensing  of  medicinal 
and  surgical  supplies  to  the  doctor,  to  the  surgeon  and  to  the  pub 
lie  belong  to  pharmacy.  Their  application  is  the  province  of  the 
practitioner  of  medicine  and  surgery,  and  I  maintain  that  it  will  be 
to  the  betterment  of  surgery  to  receive  all  dressing  materials  from 
the  hands  of  a  competent  pharmacist. 
Training  for  the  Work. — It  is  important  that  persons  who  are  to 
handle  surgical  dressings  in  any  capacity  be  familiar  with  the  prin- 
ciples as  well  as  the  details  of  the  work.  They  should  also  know 
why  things  are  done  as  well  as  how  to  do  them.  The  principles  of 
surgical  asepsis  are  applicable  to  the  dispensing  and  sale  of  these 
materials.  Therefore,  the  following  epitome  of  a  course  in  aseptic 
technique,  devised  for  use  in  the  writer's  laboratory,  may  be  found 
useful  to  many  pharmacists. 
In  addition  to  the  daily  manual  training  under  experienced  per- 
sons, the  operatives  are  required  to  attend  stated  instructions. 
These  instructions  are  in  the  form  of  demonstrations  of  the  processes, 
with  an  explanation  of  the  principles  involved.  Those  in  attend- 
ance are  given  questions  to  be  answered  and  experiments  to  per- 
form. Text  and  reference  books  are  furnished.  The  scheme  is 
modeled  upon  the  plan  of  a  college  extension  course.  Among  the 
subjects  are  the  following  : 
,i 
