The twenty-four needles should be threaded, two on one thread of fine silk eighteen inches long—viz. No. 1 or 2, of an excellent quality furnished by Messrs. J. H. Gemrig & Son of Philadelphia. To keep these threads from becoming snarled they are rolled up in a strip of muslin gauze, each pair of two needles with their thread being covered up by one fold of the gauze. The two pedicle-needles should also be threaded, but with stouter thread (No. 4), fully two feet long. All these armed needles should be put into a 5 per cent. solution of carbolic acid for several hours before the operation. Assorted needles of varying curves come occasionally into use, and it is always well to have several very fine needles on hand, together with the finest Chinese silk, in order to close a wounded viscus, such as the bladder or the bowels.
As an aid to the memory it is well to have invariably at every operation the same number of sponges and the same number of pressure-forceps, for these are the only articles likely to be left behind and closed up in the abdominal cavity. The cautery-irons should be wedge-shaped; the iron spreader used by apothecaries in making plasters forms an excellent substitute. In my hands the best pressure-forceps is Koeberle's. Its pointed beak catches the tissues far better than that of Wells's forceps, which looks like a crocodile's muzzle. The ordinary hæmostatic bulldog clips, or the serres-fines, must on no account be used, because if they should lose their hold and drop into the abdominal cavity they would be too small to be readily discovered, and might indeed be hopelessly lost in the coils of the bowels. Long strings attached to each one would, however, overcome this objection.
The ten sponges must be of the best quality and about the size of one's fist. Two of them should be flat, long, and thin, such as are called by the trade potter's sponges. When first bought, sponges almost always contain sand. To rid them of this they are beaten, then soaked for twenty-four hours in a 3 per cent. solution of muriatic acid, and afterward washed out in clear running water. Sponges should never be put into boiling water, which destroys their elasticity, shrivels them up, and spoils them. After every operation the sponges should be thoroughly cleansed in cold water and immersed for forty-eight hours in a solution of washing soda (sodii carbonas) containing four ounces to the gallon of water. They are then rinsed out in running water, and placed in a 5 per cent. solution of carbolic acid. At the end of a week they are to be taken out and hung up in a bag. Instead of a solution of soda, some prefer an 8 per cent. solution of sulphurous acid, in which the sponges are soaked for from two to four hours. This bleaches the sponges, but does not cleanse them so well as the alkaline solution.
Only three assistants are needed—two are enough if they are experienced—and they and the surgeon should take a soap-bath, and not see on that morning any patient ill from a zymotic or a contagious disease. Their clothes should also be scrupulously clean. To ensure still further protection, each one takes off his coat, waistcoat, and neck-tie if they are of a material which cannot be washed. The nurse must also wear clean clothing which can be washed. A few bystanders may be permitted, but they should wear clean clothing and take off their overcoats. They should also be cautioned not to visit before the operation any case of contagious disease.
Upon arriving at the patient's house the surgeon, together with his assistants and the nurse, proceeds at once to get everything in readiness. The two tables may be arranged in the form of a T, covered with several thicknesses of quilts, and with a pillow on the cross-table. When the tables are thus arranged a third one will be needed for the instruments and the spray-producer. In order to economize room and furniture, I am in the habit of putting one table at right angles to the other—viz. with its short arm to the left instead of to the right, thus: _|. The woman lies on the long arm of the _|, with her feet directed to the short arm, and on the projecting and free portion of the table forming the short arm are placed the tray of instruments and the spray-producer. As it takes time to get up steam in the necessarily large spray-producer, hot water should be poured into the boiler, and it should be one of the first things attended to. In order not to chill the patient, the spray solution of carbolic acid should also be heated before it is used. The edges of the oval hole in the rubber cloth are next smeared with some adhesive preparation, but a plaster suitable for all seasons of the year is not easy to devise. Keith's formula is the following, but it will not always stick:
| Rx. | Emplastri saponis, | ounce iv; |
| Emplastri resinæ, | ounce iij; | |
| Olei olivæ opt., | ounce i. M. |
After many trials, W. D. Robinson of Philadelphia has succeeded in making for me a very good plaster according to the following formula:
| Rx. | Emplastri saponis, | ounce ij; |
| Resinæ, | drachm vi; | |
| Terebinthinæ albæ, | drachm ij. M. |
I must, however, add that I now very rarely use this rubber cloth.