The room should be given a thorough housecleaning about two weeks before the expected date of delivery. If there is carpet on the floor, there should be a large canvas or rubber, or an abundance of newspapers available to protect it, about, and under the bed; and if the bed is of wood, the sideboards and foot should be covered to protect them from injury by soap, water and solutions which may be spattered or spilled during labor. If the bed is low, there should be four solid blocks of wood prepared, upon which to elevate it, after removing the casters, and it is also a good plan to have a large board, or table leaves, in readiness to slip under the mattress to make it firm, particularly if the bed is soft or sinks in the middle. So much for the room. In preparing the dressings and assembling the various articles to be used the nurse will do well to remember that, although it is possible to use a number of things during labor, it is also possible to do excellent work with a meagre equipment supplemented with a cool head and ingenuity and training and above all, an exacting conscience. The average nurse will wish, usually, to follow a median course in her preparations, having everything at hand that will facilitate the work; be adequately equipped for emergencies but not burdened with non-essentials. As the wishes and methods of different doctors vary, the articles needed in assisting them must of necessity vary also. But in addition to the instruments which will be used, the following articles will meet the ordinary requirements during a home confinement, and many of them, or adequate substitutes, are to be found in the average household. =For the Mother and the Delivery=: Plenty of sheets, pillow cases, towels and night gowns. 4 or 6 T. binders or sanitary belts. 1 piece rubber sheeting or oilcloth, 1 × 1½ yards. 1 piece rubber sheeting or oilcloth, 2 × 1½ yards. Two or three dozen safety pins. Hot water bag with flannel cover. 1 two-quart fountain syringe. 1 douche pan. 1 bed pan. 2 covered slop jars or covered pails. 3 basins, about 16, 14 and 12 inches in diameter. 2 stiff nail brushes, nail scissors and file or orange stick. 3 agate or enamel pitchers, holding at least one quart each. Medicine glass. Medicine dropper. 2 bent glass drinking tubes. 100 bichloride tablets. 4 oz. chloroform. 4 oz. boric acid powder. 4 oz. green soap. 1 pint grain alcohol. Small jar of vaseline to be sterilized. Lard, olive oil, vaseline or albolene to oil baby. Roll adhesive plaster 1 inch wide. 1 pkg. absorbent cotton. 1 thermometer. In addition to these, a certain supply of sterile dressings will be needed. Complete outfits of such dressings, sterilized and ready for use, may be obtained from any one of a number of firms, or the following may be prepared by the nurse or by the patient, under the nurse’s direction: =Dressings=: