One important feature in the arrangement for a surgical operation is the sterilizing of water, towels, instruments, and other appliances. In regard to the water, both hot and cold boiled water will be re¬ quired, unless Hygeia water is provided to take the place of the latter. You cannot err in having ready a good supply of sterilized water, as an emergency may arise in which a double quantity would be required. Clean the wash-boiler thoroughly, fill it almost to the top, and boil for half an

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... ur. One boilerful must be prepared in time for the water to grow cold before the operation; it is then poured into pitchers that have been washed in warm soapsuds and rinsed off with the sterilized water. Cover the pitchers with sterilized towels. The second boilerful is carried direct to the operating-room about twenty minutes before the surgeon arrives. As to the wet and dry sterilized towels, two dozen are pinned up in an old towel or piece of sheeting and put on a dish into the oven for two or three hours; keep the oven at a moderate heat, and look at the towels occasionally to be sure they are not burning. The remaining two dozen towels are fastened in an outside covering and put in a gran¬ ite pot or dishpan, with a plate in the bottom; cover completely with water and boil for one hour. When the nurse's hands are sterilized, the towels are removed from their outer covering, and the wet ones are wrung out, opened from the folds, and laid in a sterilized basin to be ready at a moment's notice. As a rule, the surgeon's assistant attends to the instruments, but if the nurse is called upon to sterilize them and has no regular sterilizer at hand, tie them up in a towel or piece of cheese-