| Show MEDICAL SUPPLIES new brunswick Brunsw lck N J april 1 1898 it is stated that medicine and surgery have made more progress in the last twenty years than the preceding twenty centuries it was with difficulty that permission was obtained for us to go through these great factories situated along the raritan canal and nelson street now new brunswick mr W H ritter the superintendent gave his consent and with mr W H johnson we commenced our tour through one of the largest and best chemical laboratories and factories if in the world there are eight buildings covering four acres of ground there were girls and women employed and men and boys the deax round every modern improvement is applied and utilized in their work As we commence in the blea bleaching chInd room our attention is turned to the immense piles of raw materials such as cotton cloth gauze etc being boiled cleaned and purified in great caldrons caldroni cal drons of chemically prepared solution for bleaching and making them chemically pure they are then drieda the cotton passes into the carding rooms roams and comes out in sheet like folds wound up on large spindles a yard wide and sent to various rooms for use it is very interesting to observe the wonderful process of purification these articles go through before they are ready for medical purposes for instance in the aseptic rooms the gauze cloth and cotton are not only clean in appearance but all bacteria is destroyed st for chemical sterilization and mechanical cleanliness we are among the newer weapons that ake are called to the aid of the surgeon antisepsis has not been abandoned but has developed into its higher form asepsis the antiseptic dressing has now become aseptic and the requirements for a surgical dressing now are 1 I 1 absorb well wound und secret secretions tone 2 be free from pathogenic nath organisms 3 work antii e a badly i le ie e preveat at lt decomposition of the absorbed secret secretions lons these materials used by the medical profession must be absolutely free from germs of every kind free from all forms of bacteria and for the production of such material we now enter the aseptic laboratories cons dating of rooms roams where gauze cloth cotton and the like axe are prepa prepared aled by a wonderful process of chem chemical leeJ solutions they are then sent to the sterilizing rooms where provision Is made for the use of steam formaldehyde and sulphur dioxide vapors lo gether with chemical and mechanical processes the prin cipal agent employed is saturated steam in the vacuum process as here utilized steam unmixed with air passing in currents under pressure through the dressings and materials used for surgical purposes gives the sterilization efficiency of actual bolling boiling in water the chambers are constructed ted with thick walls of metal avd and asbestos covered with wood the interior to is lined with perforated s steam te am pipes for producing live steam and radiators for producing heated air within the chamber doors door are steam tight elpes are fitted with supply and safety grages exhaust valves etc and iron cars with trays carrying the articles into the chamber to be treated heat is turned on the air then exhausted until a vacuum is formed saturated streaming let in until the temperature reaches degrees and the pressure guage indicates 6 5 to 10 pounds this process to is continued tor for about two hours and all articles then pass into aseptic rooms here the walls and ceilings are glass smooth the floors are filled and polished there are no shelves or crevi ces to harbor dust the furniture consists of glass topped tables on iron frames everything going into room first passes into the anteroom ante room and is thoroughly quarantined jhb attendants clothing is changed and nothing is allowed in this white room but what hs has been rigidly and chemically purified ea herein lies the success attending the absorbent cotton gauge cloth and other preparations used by the surgeons even after this critical test has been gone through with as above described it does not seem to be sufficient tor for later bacteriological tests are made from the pro ducts of the aseptic laboratories for example A portion apportion of gauzens impregnated with an infected nutrient fluid the gauze is then dried a portion placed in sterilized nutrient jelly in the culture chamber it if in three days day a growth is found in the check experiment peri ment the material to is infected and all such lots undergo another sterilization nor are materi materials ais used by surgeons the only ones manufactured here As aa we go into one large laage powder rooms room we see hundreds of at hands weighing up prepared baby powder making and boxing corn plasters plaster Pla sterk etc for every conceivable plaster known to the medical world almost la Is made here in the plaster room proper the bells bella donna and other plasters are run through machines and made mad e by the hundreds and thousands and holes are punctured in the same with the rapid rapidity of printing one machine alone WU WA turn out plasters dally daily and them usually sell in drug stores from 14 10 to 20 29 cents each five of such machines are here this company has al also their own printing press and advertising bureau their own box factory in fact every department and facility tor for the rapid and com complete operation and carr carrying Ving out of the work going on systematically and on an immense S scale ca le for the their tr goods are sent to continental europe and all over the world from beginning to end from first to last the hundreds of various products product of those theoe factories are clean and chemically pure so mr johnson johnann says say and the order cleanliness and discipline maintained bear every evidence of the truth the government has just ordered most of the supplies tor for the army and navy from these factories and joho john son johnson john son are becoming very wealthy and are extending their pro V ducts to all markets of the civilized world and driving out all foreign corn petition from the american market macket W |
