An Aseptic Soap-Container.

SURGEON IN CHARGE OF ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL, RICHMOND, VA.  In my personal observation in several leading hospitals, where surgical cleanliness was often carried to the point of sterilizing iodoform and protecting the hands with rubber gloves, I have failed to note a single instance in which an effort was made to eliminate the possibility of infection from the soap-dish; on the contrary, the universal practice was to have an open jar or bowl of green soap on the washstand, into which the operator, assistants and nurses freely inserted hands soiled from routine work or septic from an operation just completed.Green soap is readily infected with micro-organisms, particularly those of a pyogenic nature, and the practice referred to was so repugnant to the writer's surgical conscience that he has made repeated but unsuccessful efforts to find a soap-container on the market which would correct the evil. With the aid of