A SIMPLE DEVICE FOR STERIL- 
IZING IN PRIVATE HOUSES. 
BY 
William Easterly Ashton, M.D., 
PHILADELPHIA. ~ ~ ~ 
Reprinted from The Medical Bulletin. A SIMPLE DEVICE FOR STERIL- 
IZING IN PRIVATE HOUSES. 
By WILLIAM EASTERLY ASHTON, M.D., 
PHILADELPHIA. 
IN these days, when success in surgery de- 
pends upon complete and thorough steril- 
ization, the surgeon is often put to his wits’ 
end to know just how to accomplish this when 
operating in private houses. 
Clearly we cannot depend upon the so-called 
aseptic gauzes, sponges, ligatures, etc., which 
are so freely sold in the market; for, even 
granting that they are sterile when packed at 
the factory, they cannot remain so long, and 
they are certainly unsafe after being in a drug- 
store for an indefinite period. 
I have been using the following simple 
device when operating in private houses,—not 
only with complete satisfaction so far as sim- 
plicity in technique is concerned, but also with 
a decided lessening of personal anxiety and 
discomfort. 
I use a No. 2 Arnold Steam Sterilizer, which 
has ample space for all the necessary articles 
needed in abdominal work, and, therefore, of 
sufficient size for all branches of surgery. To 
render it portable, I have had Messrs. Chas. 
Lentz & Sons, of Philadelphia, make a round 
leather case of the following dimensions: 
Fourteen and one-fourth inches high by twelve 
and one-fourth inches in diameter. The lid 
fits over the top of the case in a way similar to 
that of the ordinary hat-box. The sterilizer fits snugly into this case, and can be carried 
about with no more inconvenience than a 
small hand-bag. 
The following articles are packed in the 
sterilizer and kept ready for use at a moment’s 
notice: Two dozen gauze sponges; two large 
and four small gauze pads; one yard of iodo- 
form gauze; three glass drainage-tubes, of dif- 
ferent sizes; two rubber drainage-tubes; rubber 
tubing for intestinal ligatures; the irrigating- 
tube and nozzle; five large towels; one dozen 
safety-pins; a nail-brush, and the dressings, 
which consist of two yards of gauze, absorbeja* 
cotton, and one yard and a half of Canton 
flannel. 
With the above articles in the sterilizer the 
surgeon has at his command all that is required 
in any abdominal case, and he is therefore 
ready for any emergency. -Upon arriving at 
the house of the patient the sterilizer is taken 
out of the case, filled with water, and placed 
upon the kitchen range. 
I always keep on hand a duplicate 6et of the 
articles which go in the sterilizer, and imme- 
diately repack it after every operation. The 
general surgeon may either keep the sterilizer 
packed or place in it such articles as he may 
deem necessary at the time he is called to a 
patient. 
The advantage of this portable sterilizer is 
not only its great convenience, but, what is 
more important still, the certainty of thorough 
sterilization, which is so difficult to accomplish 
in private houses. 
2oii Walnut Street.