1 doz. sterile towels. 5 or 6 doz. perineal pads. 2 or 4 delivery pads, made of gauze and common cotton with top layer of absorbent cotton, or newspapers covered with muslin. 5 or 6 doz. gauze sponges. 2 or 3 doz. gauze squares, 4 inches square. 4 or 5 doz. cotton pledgets. 1 pr. leggings, made of canton or outing flannel, either loose fitting hose or a yard square folded diagonally and stitched. (See Fig. 110.) 3 sheets. 6 pieces cord-tie of bobbin or narrow tape, 9 inches long. These may be put up into packages in the usual manner, using muslin for wrapping, and sterilized in the patient’s home as follows: Fill a wash boiler about ¼ full of water and fashion a hammock from a towel or strong piece of muslin, tied securely with strings at each end and hung from the handles so that the bottom of the hammock in about half way down in the boiler. As the weight of the dressings makes the hammock sag low, in the middle, it is usually necessary to place a rack, or support of some kind, in the bottom of the boiler to hold the dressings well above the bubbling water, at the point where they hang lowest. Pile the dressings into the hammock, cover the boiler tightly and keep the water boiling vigorously for one hour; dry the packages in the sun or by placing them in the oven for a few moments, and at the end of twenty-four hours repeat the steaming and drying process, wrap the packages in a clean sheet or paper and put them away in a drawer or covered box where they should remain until time to prepare for the delivery. The brushes, douche pan, irrigation-bag, and other articles which must be surgically clean may be sterilized in the same way. The gloves may be sterilized in this way or boiled immediately before delivery. If sterilized by steam, the gloves should be thoroughly dried, dusted with talcum inside and out to prevent them from sticking together, and may be wrapped in packages or placed in individual cases (Fig. 42). A small towel or piece of soft muslin and a ball of gauze containing talcum powder, if placed in the case and sterilized with the gloves, are often a convenience to the doctor in putting on the gloves. [Illustration: FIG. 42.—Gloves with cuffs turned up, lying with small towel and powder puff of gauze and talcum, on double envelope case in which they may be dry-sterilized. (From photograph taken at the Brooklyn Hospital.) ] The newspaper delivery pads offer excellent protection and are made of six thicknesses of paper covered with a piece of freshly laundered muslin, which is folded over the edges and basted in place. (Fig. 43). These pads may be made virtually sterile by ironing them on the muslin side with a very hot iron, folding the ironed surface inside without touching it; again ironing on the outside and wrapping in a clean muslin or sheet, also recently ironed, and putting away in a place protected from dust. The nurse herself should have: