A manual of bandaging : adapted for self-instruction / by C. Henri Leonard.

  • Leonard, C. Henri (Charles Henri), 1850-1925
Date:
[1876?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of bandaging : adapted for self-instruction / by C. Henri Leonard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

    24/172 (page 18)
    ON CHARPIE—COTTON-WOOL. Of this there are four kinds, viz., raw, long, rasped and web- like. But one of these, the raw, is of moment. This is made by picking apart the threads of a piece of linen, each filament having a length from 2 to 3 inches; if they are too short, the filaments are apt to mat or lump together, and so render it unfit for the uses for which it was intended. A good article should be white, soft and light, and somewhat elastic. The difficulty of procuring a properly prepared charpie, and of keeping it free from matting has, at present, induced most surgeons to substitute for it clean cotton-wool. Charpie, or cotton-wool, is used in surgery to protect froJii irritation, to compress, and to slightly irritate, as well as \<r maintain in equal temperature a wounded member: one of ill most common uses is, however, as an absorbent of the secre* tions from a wounded surface. For these multitudinous use? it is employed under the form of p>lumasseau;c> gateaux, bon lettes, bourdonnets, tampons, pelotes, and layers, or laminae. A Plumasseau {a pledget)—is but a bunch of charpie which has been drawn, lengthwise, lightly through the fingers till the filaments of the mass are made parallel with each other, and the mass made of the same thickness and density throughout. It may be used as an absorbent of secretion, for slight com- pression, or for carrying medicaments to a wounded surface. A Gateau (a cake)—is nothing more or less than a large plumasseau, with the ends of the charpie folded into the centre of the mass. It is used more especially for compression, and for absorbing the secretions of the wound. A Boulette (a little ball)—is simply a ball of charpie, formed by rolling little masses of it in the palms of the hands. [18]