The wearing of gloves diminishes the mortality of the operation, and minimizes its unpleasant and often dangerous sequelæ, such as suppuration around sutures, septic emboli, tympanites, and the like. Care must be taken to impress upon all who take part in an operation that it is as essential to thoroughly wash and disinfect the hands before inserting them in gloves as when no gloves are worn. It is also necessary to warn nurses that the smallest hole in a glove renders it useless. To the operator thorough disinfection of the hands is of the highest importance, for he may puncture or tear the gloves during the operation; or a difficulty may arise in the course of it which will render it advantageous for him to remove one or both gloves to overcome it. It is with me a rule that if in the course of an operation it is necessary to remove the gloves, I resume them for the final stages, and particularly for the insertion of the sutures. The use of rubber gloves marks a most important advance in operative surgery. =The operating table.= In many cases of cœliotomy a table such as is employed for the ordinary operations of surgery answers very well, but for hysterectomy, oöphorectomy, and similar procedures it is a great convenience to use a table on which the patient can be placed in the Trendelenburg position, that is, with the pelvis raised, and the head and shoulders lowered: this allows the intestines to fall towards the diaphragm and leave the pelvis unencumbered. There are many varieties of tables employed for this purpose. As these tables are made of metal, it is necessary before the table is tilted to fix the patient’s arms parallel with her trunk, otherwise they fall across the edge of the table, and in some instances a troublesome paralysis of the muscles of the upper limb has been the consequence. It is worth while pointing out that most of the examples have happened in the course of long operations (see Post-anæsthetic paralysis, p. 95). =Anæsthesia.= The majority of surgeons employ a general anæsthetic, such as ether, chloroform, or a mixture of chloroform and ether, in pelvic operations. The most usual practice in London is to render the patient unconscious with nitrous oxide gas and maintain the anæsthesia with ether. It is a method which has given me the greatest satisfaction. As a rule, it is wise whenever possible to employ an experienced anæsthetist and trust to his judgment in regard to the selection of the anæsthetic. In exceptional cases pelvic operations such as ovariotomy and hysteropexy have been successfully performed with the aid of intradural injections of a solution of eucaine, novocaine, or stovaine.