After curetting the uterus some operators are in the habit of packing the uterine cavity with sterile or iodoform gauze. This procedure is liable to obstruct the escape, rather than favor the drainage, of any discharges from the cavity of the uterus. Elevation of temperature and uterine pain are often caused by it; therefore it is best, after the operation of curetting, merely to pack the vagina lightly with sterile gauze, which should be removed in forty-eight hours. Daily douches of a 1:4000 bichloride-of-mercury solution should then be administered as long as the woman remains in bed. The vagina should be carefully dried after the douche, as already advised. Hemorrhage is never profuse during curetting, and usually ceases after the endometrium has been removed and the uterus has been washed out. In cases of gonorrheal endometritis it is advisable, after the uterus has been douched and the bleeding has ceased, to apply carbolic acid thoroughly over the whole interior of the uterus, because infection may lurk in the distal ends of the utricular glands, which are not removed by the curette. [Illustration: FIG. 123.--Microscopic section of the normal endometrium, showing the utricular glands extending into the muscular tissue (Beyea).] The length of time during which it is advisable to keep the woman in bed depends upon the extent and nature of the disease for which the curetting has been done. As a general rule, the longer the stay in bed the better it is for the woman. If the uterus is much enlarged or if subinvolution is present, the patient should stay in bed for two weeks. Such rest in the recumbent position diminishes the congestion of the pelvic organs and is of great aid in restoring the parts to a normal condition. Careful attention should be paid to the regularity of the bowels. Mild purgation with saline purgatives should be continued during the convalescence. Daily massage, started two or three days after the operation, will facilitate the cure. All the endometritial structures are never completely removed by the curette. The distal ends of the utricular glands, which penetrate the muscular coat of the uterus (see Fig. 123), remain after thorough and vigorous curetting. After removing the endometrium with the curette the cavity of the uterus does not become lined with a cicatricial membrane, but a new endometrium is produced. It is probable that the new membrane is developed from the remains of the utricular glands. The new endometrium grows in a very short time. In some cases it has been sufficiently well formed to permit pregnancy five weeks after curetting. The first menstrual period, and sometimes the second and third, after the operation of curetting may be missed. As a general rule, the menstrual bleeding is much less profuse than before the operation. The therapeutic object of curetting for endometritis is to replace the diseased endometrium by a new membrane which has grown under conditions of rest and asepsis.