Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-12-28
THEsURGEON'S TOOLS
AS FEW AS POSSIBLE USED BY The
MODERN PRACTITIONER.

a surgeon used to carry bag of In
struments weighing often as much as
twenty-five pounds when he was called
to operate" said q member of the stafr
OF the New York Postgraduate Med
tcal School and Hospital the other day.
To-day IN average operation, such as
the removal OF an appendix, calls for no
more Instruments than can be carried
In the pockets.
81 have just come" continued the doc
tor, "from removing an appendix, and
here In this small package are all the
instruments used-a scissors, two ar
terry clamps, two forceps and needle.
Many operations, Of course-gustro-
enteric, genealogical and those that
have to do with bones-require more
Instruments, but modern science de-
mands the use of MS few as possible In
order that time may be saved. Skill
and haste are prime factors in an op-
GRAFTON. In the old days, before anaes-
thesin was known, this was to shorten
the patients agony as much as possible.
After ether was discovered surgeons
Tor awhile operated more lcisurely, but
soon finding out that the shock to the
patient remaining under ether SO long
wns always dangerous and often fatal
they again recognized the Importance
of swiftness. Diminishing the number
Of instruments was one OF the methods
for saving time In the operating room
in the old days there was always, no
matter what the operation, good sized
table laid out with ten or fifteen score
of instruments, fifty artery clamps,
scissors, forceps and lancets by the
dozen. 1t used to take over IN hour to
remove an appendix: today the average
la about twelve minutes.
THE variety Of instruments Increases
every year rs surgeons meet with new
needs or solve old problems. In our
school here, as in others, many !nstru.
mcnts have been devised Especially
TO those having to do with the eye, err,
nose and throat have we made valua.
Bile additions as well as In the field of
orthopedic appliances. The Hlppocrat.
ic oath precludes the pntenting of any
such Inventions; consequently all In
struments are free to be made by oil
and every surgical mandatory"
The making Of surgical instruments
In the United States Is nearly contem-
poraneous with the beginning Of the
republic, and one or two OF the promi-
nent firms today date from long before
the civil war. In no country are finer
Instruments made than in the United
States Though the number of mon
employed Is small every man is n
Skilled laborer and an artist, with nm
. NJ II 81 -
journeymnn jeweler. capable OF max
sng even the most delicate Of the great
variety of instruments, amounting to
about 10000, which surgical house
must keep in stock or be ready to pro-
duce upon order.
Cast and drop forged instruments
have no lasting value, and once the
edge is worn off they can never be sat.
isfactorily resharpened. The process
which they undergo demands that they
be brought three times TO n white
heat. The first time the steel becomes
tempered; the second and third time it
becomes decnrbonIzed and loses IL
temper, the result being an instru-
ment with shell of hard steel, capa-
BILE Of taking n fair edge, but beneath
which the metal Is soft and unfit to
stand honing.
"All good instruments are hand
forged. Thus prices are doubled and
trebled over the prices Of cast Instru.
ments because Of the skilled labor and
time necessary to their construction.
The workman In careful factory
must make study of his work and
learn the physical qualities OF the
steel or metal he works with, Its
strength and cutting and tension qusi,
tiles General operating instruments
are made of steel, silver, platinum,
gold and aluminium. German steel,
owing to Its tenacity. Is used for for
ceps aud blunt instruments; English
cast steel for edged tools. MS it receives
high temper, Il fine polish and re.
tains its edge. Silver when pure Is
very flexible and is useful for cathe.
tiers. which require frequent change Of
curve. When mixed with other metals,
MS coin silver. 1t makes firm cathetere,
caustlc holders and cannulated work.
Seamless silver instruments are least
liable to corrode. Platinum resists the
action of acids and ordinary heat and
is useful for caustic holders, actual
cauteries and the electrodes of the
galvano cautery. Gold. owing to its
ductility, is adapted for fine tubes,
such as eye syrlnges and 80 forth,
while aluminium Is by its extreme
lightness suitable for probes, styles
and tracheotomy tubes.
Handles are made Of ebony, ivory,
pearl or hard rubber. Ebony and rub
Der are used for lnrge instruments.
though these at times have handles OF
steel. Ivory makes durable ana
beautiful handle, though 1t and ebony
nre not entirely aseptlc, because it in
impossible to boil them for the purpose
of steriliznt ion wit hnilt thair nra al. inct