Perfect sterility should be and is the goal of all operating room technic. The attainment of absolute perfection can be worked out best by the individual responsible in each institution taking into consideration all the local problems.
Of the many problems, however, common to all hospitals, there is one which has always presented difficulty—the maintaining of the reserve instruments and catgut on the supply tables in the operating room always covered, despite the length and the requirements of the operation, and at the same time permitting the instrument nurse to obtain her supplies quickly and without delay.
Most institutions keep the tables covered with sterile towels or a sheet which must be turned back by the nurse with forceps; then these forceps, having touched the outside of the sheet, cannot be used to remove instruments. This procedure also requires the reapplication of the sheet after each removal of an