STERILIZATION OF FABRICS IN HOSPITALS

To the Editor:  —I have read with considerable interest an article entitled "The Importance of More Adequate Sterilization Processes in Hospitals" by Dr. Walter E. Dandy and published in the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons (16:11 [March] 1932).Permit me to call attention to the following statement, printed in italics, in his contribution: "Sterilization for one hour under a constant pressure of not less than twenty pounds is therefore the minimum that will assure destruction of all organisms." Later he states that every sterilizer should be equipped with two instruments, one for recording the time and the temperature of the chamber of the sterilizer during the entire period of sterilization, and the other one for recording the pressure curve during the entire period of sterilization. The latter statement, concerning temperature, is the one which might better have been put in italics.It is a common fallacy, which