“I wish to lay especial stress upon the possibility of effecting a very material saving in the use of surgical appliances and expensive drugs in all the hospitals. In order to accomplish this it is necessary to have the goodwill and co-operation and constant thought, not only of the superintendent and his staff, but also of the surgeons and physicians, both attending and house. If the visiting physicians and surgeons were to exercise the same consideration in the use of surgical dressings and expensive drugs as they do in their private practice among people of moderate means, and exact the same of the house staff; there would be, in my opinion, a marked reduction in the amount of the supply account. “The following is an example of what can be done in the way of saving in surgical supplies: The attention of the visiting surgeon of one of the divisions of Bellevue Hospital was called about a month ago to the large consumption of gauze in his wards, some 2,100 yards having been used in the previous week. He at once made an investigation, with the result that the next week the amount of gauze consumed was only 1,100 yards, and during the week following that only 610 yards, although the service continued just as active and the patients were cared for fully as well as before.” The author of “The Commissariat” stated that in the hospitals of London, where the surgical department is diligently supervised, it has been found possible to effect an annual saving amounting to five pounds for each bed, and that without in any way lowering the standard of nursing or treatment. [Sidenote: Utilizing Hospital Waste] At the Boston meeting of the Association of Hospital Superintendents, Dr. F. A. Washburn, Jr., of the Massachusetts General Hospital, in a paper on “Methods of Utilizing Hospital Waste” described the methods used in that hospital to reduce the consumption of gauze and soap. The paper contains so much that is valuable by way of illustrating what might be accomplished and how, that we have requested permission to insert it in this connection. “Two main principles are involved in reducing hospital expenditures: “1st. Using less new material. “2nd. Utilizing waste material. “In this paper I will dwell principally upon some of the methods which may be employed in carrying out the second of these two principles, namely, utilizing material which has formerly gone to waste. “The item of absorbent gauze is a large one in every general hospital. At the Massachusetts General Hospital, in 1902, it amounted to $6,079.81, in 1903, to $5,959.37.