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Show The Hairpin as a Surgical Instrument. b(P 7-" In a aerloua article on "Tha Burglcal Uaes of the Hairpin," Dr. J. Torrance Iluga of Philadelphia Phila-delphia shows In American Medicine Medi-cine that this article of the foanlnlne toilet may In an emergency be of great aid to the aurgeon, easing pain or even saving life. Dr. Ruga writes: "Because of Ita almost universal presence this email article lends Itself to many purposes, and he who remembers re-members acme of the practical ones will not Infrequently have at hand tlio meana of dealing with an emergency emer-gency which might otherwise result disastrously. Its chief polnta of use-fulness use-fulness are: Its almost universal presence, Its ease of sterilisation, convenience of alae, adaptability to any desired ahape by bending or twlatlng, and Us eheapness. After being be-ing once used, especially it used In an Infectious or contagious case, It may be thrown away, or by being passed through a " mv rendered aafely aterile." The hairpin. Dr. Hugh aaya, may be used either In 'Is natural shape or bent Into special forms. In the former for-mer condition It may serve In pin on bandages, to remove foreign bodies from any natural passage, as a curette for scraping away soft material, to compreaa a blov) vessel fa controlling hemorrhage, us shows In the figure, or to cloae a woxind, as Illustrated In the same; and, finally, aa a substitute for calipers. Stralatitoned out, the hairpin may be uael aa a probe (In which manuer It has probably been employed In surgical emergencies more frequently than In any other way); to wire bones together In fracture; la actual cautery, cau-tery, when heated to redness la a flame: and In many other way. Bent or twisted In the varloai ways shown In the Illustration, It also does service as a nasal speculum (1), a retractor for a wound (11, aa sural-cal sural-cal needle (3), In tracheotomy (4) to maintain an opening until the proper tube can be obtained, Instead of a drainage tube (CI, or to bring the edges of a wound together In various ways (6). |