Intestinal surgery has, within the last few years, received a long-needed attention. The correct diagnosis of the diseased condition of the appendix, and its operative treatment, has demonstrated the great possibilities of intestinal surgery. As a result we are now saving a class of patients which we have been unnecessarily burying all these many years. As there is a great diversity of opinion as to operative technique it affords a fertile field for our careful consideration.
Preparation for the Operation.
—The patient should receive a general bath in which he is thoroughly washed with a flesh brush and green soap and water, as hot as can be comfortably borne. The abdomen and pubes are shaved, and a green soap poultice applied from two to six hours, followed by a washing with sterilized water, to remove the epidermis which has been acted on by the soap. A towel, wet with 1