Oakland, Cal., Sept. 7, 1903.
To the Editor:
—In The Journal, September 5, Dr. Bechtol speaks under New Appliances of the Gigli saw in the removal of plaster-of-paris casts, and describes the method. Whenever I think I have discovered something new I always think of the saying, "Go abroad, young man." The method and saw described have been in use several years on this coast. One of the first x-ray photographs taken in the Waldeck Hospital about seven years ago shows the saw in the cast, as it was left under the cast until the plaster had set; which is better than removing it while the plaster is wet and soft. If not the Gigli saw, a piece of twisted or nicked steel wire will do. It is well to put on a light gauze bandage over the cotton before covering up the wire with the plaster, because if the